We Are The Chatroom Gems
by Combined Gamers
Summary: After a large group of students meet in Detention, one of them decides to create a place where they can all speak to each other, and things start to develop from there. Rated T for dark themes. There will be occasional trigger warnings Contains GregxRose, Pearlmethyst, Lapidot, Malexandrite, Rupphire, Jaspmuth and SardonyxxSugilitexOpal Go to Bio for the ask Tumblr link!
1. What Fresh Hell is This

_La_Vie_Ein_Rose created the chat group 'We are The Crystal Gems' at 5:36 pm._

 _La_Vie_Ein_Rose added Absolutely-Pearl-fect, Made_of_LOVE, Pleasure-doin-Bismuth-with-you and purple_PUMA to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 5:37 pm._

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Rose, is that you? What is this?

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: Just a little chat room, I wanted to get to know our new friends, and what better a way than this?!

purple_PUMA: wait how did you do this? isn't this like almost impossible?

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: Well... Technically yes, but I managed to get into the network with a little help from our friend Bismuth.

Made_of_LOVE: I thought Bismuth's phone was broken? Didn't she impale/shatter it by accident?

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: Yes. But she was willing to help.

purple_PUMA: k so you said we could add people? like the ones we met in detention?

Made_of_LOVE: I believe so, in that case

 _Made_of_LOVE added ETERNALFLAMEBABY and Icey_U to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 5:44 pm._

Made_of_LOVE: I didn't really get anyone's username or number, but they are my best friends.

purple_PUMA: oh I gotta get in on this

 _purple_PUMA added Hopal_for_Opal, Like-that-little-man? and Sink-the-DINK to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 5:45 pm._

Like-that-little-man?: Yo, what the hell is this?

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Think of it like a two-way chat, but upgraded to fit more people.

Hopal_for_Opal: Oh wow! That's so cool, Rose, was this your idea?

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: That's right, Opal, now would you mind adding our new friends numbers?

Hopal_for_Opal: Sorry, I didn't get anybody's number!

Made_of_LOVE: I think Sapphire and Ruby are busy eating dinner, but they'll be online soon.

 _Absolutely-Pearl-fect added Known-to-Smash, What-can-I-do4u and keepittogether to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 5:48 pm._

Sink-the-DINK: yo, Rose I thought you were kiddin about this! I can't believe Bis did it

Sink-the-DINK: k so we're adding people? Alright sure

Known_to_Smash: Why hello everybody! Rose darling you are a genius! Although adding Alex might not have been the best idea, she's NEVER online.

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: Well when she does get on, she'll probably find this.

Like-that-little-man?: OK I'm gonna go eat brb

What-can-I-do4u: Aw, I just got on, is everybody going?

Known_to_Smash: No, no it's just Sugilite. I'm eating dinner later though.

purple_PUMA: oh no it's raining! Oh god P an I have work later so this had better fricking blow over

Icey_U: Oh. Amethyst, I've been meaning to ask, who is your new job?

Icey_U: HOW is your new job, auto-correct is the bane of my existence...

What-can-I-do4u: Hey Sapph!

purple_PUMA: love it, I get to decorate cupcakes!

Icey_U: I'm glad to hear you like it, and hello, Rain!

Sink-the-DINK: Well sorry about this taking forever, took a while to get her username.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Who?

 _Sink-the-DINK added Centipeetle, Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff, and don't_lapiss_me_off to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 5:55 pm._

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Oh come on I just got on here and we're adding HER?!

Centipeetle: hi

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: Hello, Jade, it's nice to meet you.

Centipeetle: please don't call me that

Sink-the-DINK: She likes to be called Centi or Nephrite

Made_of_LOVE: Well, Nephrite, it will be nice to have you here with us.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: wait, Centi when I said HER I wasn't talking about you, like, at all!

Centipeetle: ok

Hopal_for_Opal: Hey Pearl, what do you and Amethyst work as again? I kinda forgot.

purple_PUMA: dude, I have, like, THE best job, k so "the ocean floor" needed somebody to decorate cupcakes, and P dragged me down.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: (Sorry I was reading) Well I work as a cashier. And yes, what Amethyst says is true I did get her the job.

Known_to_Smash: Ooh, what were you reading Pearl? C'mon, give us the deets!

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: yeah tell us, what could have made you look away from us?!

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: "How to make French Toast in 7 easy steps" I've never had it before.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: lol what? Pearl you are the French-est person I know.

Known_to_Smash: Well, I asked... Not sure what I expected. Would you mind sending me the link? I love breakfast!

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Sure! Anything for a friend! :^)

Made_of_LOVE: That was kind of adorable.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Nerd alert!

purple_PUMA: her NERD level is over 9000!

Icey_U: Speaking of Breakfast foods, I'll be at the store getting eggs, see you guys later. Oh and Amethyst? Nice.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: I feel attacked...

What-can-I-do4u: Sorry I haven't been talking much, I'm doing homework and trying cook my dinner.

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: It's alright, I'm watching TV right now, I'm finally homework free!

don't_lapiss_me_off: Smoky what is this.

Sink-the-DINK: Just an AWESOME chat room that Rose made cause we're all detention buddies

don't_lapiss_me_off: k who else is here? I'm on my phone and I can't see the list of people

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: I'm here ;) been watching the chat since they added me.

Like-that-little-man?: so I get back on and Jasper's being weird AF. Ok then.

don't_lapiss_me_off: oh god no...

 _Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff added I_am_Malachite to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 6:14 pm._

don't_lapiss_me_off: OH GOD NO

I_am_Malachite: What's wrong Lapis?

don't_lapiss_me_off: No. You know what? I'm not going to get angry. Say hello to the TRUE culprit of the blackout.

 _don't_lapiss_me_off added PERIDOT5XG to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 6:16 pm._

purple_PUMA: YO THAT WAS HER?!

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Tell me you're joking...

PERIDOT5XG: NO! SHE WOULD NEVER LIE ABOUT THE PERFECT PRANK!

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: Peridot? If that was your idea... Why didn't I see you in the halls with the paint?

Known_to_Smash: Peridot, dear, it would be nice if you could take it easy on the all caps.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: I changed my mind this is officially hell.

PERIDOT5XG: IF I DIDN'T USE ALL CAPS THEN HOW WOULD YOU KNOW I'M SHOUTING?!

PERIDOT5XG: DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD GET ANY OF THAT STUFF ON MY CLOTHES?

Like-that-little-man?: Peridot I legit can't believe you did that! I knew there was a reason you and Lapis were giving out glow-sticks! Remind me to high-5 you later

I_am_Malachite: What blackout?! I was sick for one fucking day

Hopal_for_Opal: Malachite no!

What-can-I-do4u: We were doing so well, I wanted to see how long it would last!

I_am_Malachite: What?

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: I would appreciate it if you guys didn't curse.

don't_lapiss_me_off: why?

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: It's just... I babysit kids who may see it, that's all.

don't_lapiss_me_off: sorry, I didn't know. What about my username?

PERIDOT5XG: I SHALL KEEP THIS IN MIND, ROSE QUARTZ.

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: No Lapis, your name is fine (quite funny actually) and Peridot, you know you don't have to call me that, right?

don't_lapiss_me_off: glad you think it's funny, I'm just happy ol' blue didn't catch it

PERIDOT5XG: I WASN'T AWARE OF HOW FORMAL OR LACK OF THIS 'CHAT ROOM' IS.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Amethyst, we have to leave now. At least it stopped raining.

purple_PUMA: bye peeps! PEACE

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Goodbye everyone!

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: Goodbye Pearl! Goodbye Amethyst!

Hopal_for_Opal: Bye guys. I'll just be here drawing.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: What are you driving

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: DRAWING jeezzus that was awful.

PERIDOT5XG: WHAT IS THIS 'JEEZZUS'?

What-can-I-do4u: Say it out loud.

PERIDOT5XG: I JUST GOT IT THANK YOU THOUGH.

Hopal_for_Opal: I run a little blog (under the same name) where I redraw scenes from anime.

don't_lapiss_me_off: that's cool, btw I have to go too, it's getting late

Known_to_Smash: Late? Lapis, it's only 6:21

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Sapphy just got back! She says hey

What-can-I-do4u: So does everyone want to meet up somewhere tomorrow at lunch?

don't_lapiss_me_off: I have to head home now but sure... the courtyard sounds alright

I_am_Malachite: Yeah, okay, see you guys tomorrow, I have to study a bit for chem.

PERIDOT5XG: HAVE FUN AT HOME, LAZULI! I WILL HOPEFULLY SEE ALL OF YOU AT THIS 'COURTYARD' TOMORROW.

Like-that-little-man?: So's everybody leaving now? Seriously?

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Sapphire isn't coming back, she's taking a shower and then watching movies for the rest of the night, but she said goodnight and that she'll be at lunch with us

Made_of_LOVE: So? Is everyone agreeing to the plan? I'll tell Pearl and Amethyst when they get back later.

Known_to_Smash: Wait! Is everyone leaving?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Seems like it. Guess I'm out too, see ya.

Sink-the-DINK: Nah, who else is here though?

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Well, I am.

Hopal_for_Opal: I'm super excited for tomorrow, by the way my phone's about to die bye guys

Like-that-little-man?: Gotta go watch my brother, bye

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Scratch the whole 'I'm here' thing, gonna watch a movie

Sink-the-DINK: k might as well go since there's like no body here anymore.

Known_to_Smash: I'll be eating dinner now before doing my history work, good evening everybody!

Centipeetle: goodbye friends.


	2. Hmm, That's a Wonderful Idea!

_**AN: Oh by the way, all chapters from now on will be a blend of text and narration, although an upcoming chapter will be pure texting.**_

Prequel Chapter: Detention

"Miss Agate, even you said you thought it would be fun!" A pink-haired teenager said as she was ushered into a large bright room with many desks scattered so that none were connected. Her pale pink ballet flats scratched on the floor, behind her was a middle-aged woman with greying brown hair.

"Rose, I know you wish for others to have fun, but 5 gallons of bubble mix, food dye, and paint is over the top!" The woman shouted. She pointed a short finger at a desk in the front of the classroom and pinched the bridge of her small nose, "Just please take a seat."

The girl known as Rose Quartz nodded briskly and walked over to her seat without another word, her long white skirt flowed behind her and as she sat down she started to comb through her curly hair with her fingers.

"There will be another teacher here soon to watch you and the other delinquents... I'm sorry Rose, I don't make the rules." Miss Agate said to Rose with slight guilt.

She just nodded and smiled. "I get it." She said calmly, however Rose was starting to have an internal freakout, what if they caught Pearl? Pearl had helped her in bringing everything to the cafeteria, but then she had gone off somewhere with Amethyst. Something about a car... But, Pearl didn't have a car, and Amethyst didn't have a license.

"Alright lovebirds, get in there and sit on opposite ends of the room." An angry voice growled as two students were nearly shoved into the detention room. Rose recognized them as the school's power couple, Ruby and Sapphire.

Though both were quite short, that was about where the similarity's ended, Ruby had dark brown gym shorts (which she had her hands in the pockets of), a vibrant crimson t-shirt with dark stripes going up her sides and a headband going around her slightly reddish afro, she had a black bandanna around her neck and a bracelet with a blue gem charm.

Sapphire had long wavy light blue hair that went down just past her waist, which was a nice contrast to her mocha skin, she had a navy blue dress with a simple but lovely ice-like pattern that went down past her knees. She, like her girlfriend, also had a bracelet which went on the opposite hand and had a red gem instead.

"We're sorry sir, it won't happen again." Said the blue-haired girl she brushed her bangs out of her face to reveal brilliant blue eyes... Or, eye considering one of them was glassy and dull.

The other girl looked up from her feet at the angered man in front of the two and nodded, "It was a pretty bad idea, sorry." She said, and the teacher (Rose didn't know his name) seemed a bit happier.

"Think of this as a warning girls, if I catch you two skipping class to play suck-face in a janitors closet, or anywhere else for that matter, ever again I will not hesitate to call to your families."

Ruby nodded "Yessir."she mumbled. Rose could see that she was blushing quite a bit.

The two girls went to opposite sides of the room and sat down, Ruby slouched onto the desk and Sapphire held her head in hands, clearly bored.

' _Ah! There's Pearl, oh and Amethyst, thank goodness.'_ Rose thought to herself, Pearl was wearing her typical long blue shirt and white ballet flats, however she was also wearing something Rose had no clue that Pearl even owned. A leather jacket and jeans. Her formerly neat peach-coloured hair looked wind blown by a tornado. She looked pretty ashamed.

 _Amethyst_ on the other hand, looked ecstatic, her wild lilac hair may have covered one of her eyes but the other was shining brightly, she had a huge grin on her face. Her black tank top had blue and orange stains on it, so Rose could tell she had been in the cafeteria, there was orange paint all over her legs and purple capris, the only clean things were her deep purple high-tops.

' _She must have been in her socks.'_

There was no teacher with them, but Pearl hurried over to the desk next to Rose and sat down, her wide blue eyes filled with fright.

"Rose! How did they find you?" The teenager asked, but Rose simply shrugged as Amethyst made her way over to them and sat backwards over a chair, her back facing the front of the room. She grinned at Pearl like a madwoman.

"Ok so P here hot-wired a car, and we went for a frickin' JOYRIDE!" She shouted, Ruby started to laugh and Rose could have sworn she heard Sapphire snicker.

"That was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time." Pearl said, and groaned, "What will my parents think?" She asked, and Rose... Didn't really have to much of an answer.

"Well...You said they don't really care as long as your grades are up, which they are, and..." Rose trailed off, it was true that Pearl's mother and father didn't have a care in the world what their daughter did as long as she kept her grades up and wasn't arrested.

The pale teen cocked her head and she made a 'go on' motion with her hands "And... What?" she asked the taller girl, clearly terrified of what could come next, "W-what if they call the police, it was theft!"

Amethyst slammed the tips of her fingers (god bless her tiny arms) on Pearl's desk, causing her to jump, "Pearl!" The Hispanic girl snapped at her friend, "That was Vidalia's car! The only, and I mean only reason you hot-wired it was because the key didn't work and that means 2 things."

Ruby called from the other side of the room, "Her car's a piece of shit?" she asked, cue a snort from Sapphire.

Pearl buried her head in her hands but Amethyst continued "Well ya duh, I coulda said that, buuuut, because it's V's car we're off the hook!" The short teen cheered. The taller girl nodded but didn't say anything, Rose put a hand on her back to comfort her.

"Oh good, almost every member of the 'I'm so gay it hurts' council is here." There was a deep yet feminine growl from the doorway, a tall and muscular teenage girl leaned against the blackboard and rubbed her jaw, her knuckles were bloody and she seemed to be putting more weight on her right leg.

Now, Rose could never bring herself to TRULY hate anyone, but this girl, _Jasper_ was cutting it pretty close.

"Oh come on Jasper, I'm bi, so is Rose... And you're pan so shut up!" Amethyst flipped her head back to look at the much taller girl, the two were not related (at least, they were pretty sure they weren't) but they looked similar, both had long wild hair and were quite strong, but Amethyst was much shorter than Jasper and tended to wear much looser clothing than black jeans and an orange tank top.

Behind Jasper was a tall, dark-skinned woman with an oddly cubeish afro and sunglasses despite being indoors, she had a blank (if not slightly pissed) expression, she had bruises scattered all over her and her black t-shirt had one of its sleeves ripped she had her hands shoved into the pockets of her maroon pants. Rose was thinking it was to restrain herself from punching the Fijian teen next to her, she walked over to sit with her cousin Sapphire.

"Ruby. Come here, there isn't any teacher coming, you guys sit with me." The girl, Garnet (an absolutely lovely name according to Rose) beckoned the Ruby, who smiled brightly in return and happily made her way over to where her girlfriend and best friend were chatting.

Jasper, who had opted to lean against the chalkboard sighed "So... I got into a fight with Garnet, what did you three do?" She asked before going to try and search the teacher's desk for bandages.

"I took Amethyst in Vidalia's car for a joy ride." Pearl explained without any sort of tone in her voice, she combed her long fingers through her hair.

"Yeah! It was awesome, Pearl was a total badass!" The purple-haired girl boasted.

There was a very angry voice sounding from the hallway, Jasper abandoned the desk and dived into the nearest seat, Garnet moved back by a row, Ruby rushed back to her side of the room and Amethyst turned around, nobody made a sound. They ALL knew who was walking down the hall. Yella Diamond.

"You are lucky that Azura has a liking for you, otherwise I would have you expelled!" The furious vice principal shouted, "And YOU!" The blonde woman roared, "Did you help her?!"

There was a quivering, nasally voice "I... I-I umm... Well..." The little voice stammered before a much calmer and deadpan one cut through "All she did was help me hand out glow-sticks, she had no clue what I was doing, this is all me, Ms. Diamond, you can't put blame on her for what she thought was just helping out a friend have fun."

Jasper leaned back towards Amethyst "Another member of the gay squad is here." She whispered, Amethyst passed her a bandage out of her backpack, the other teen placed it on one her fingers, it was on the hand that looked like a patch of skin had had the colour absorbed from it, the most noticeable places where her vitilligo had struck were on her arms, legs and face.

The two started to snicker until Sapphire shushed them. The feared vice principal brought three more teenagers into the boring room, one of them was Smoky, their eyes were filled with hatred for the woman standing near them, but they handed over their purple yo-yo and sat down next to Jasper, who said nothing, they then started to fiddle with the strings on their dark grey hoodie while twirling a piece of their almost black hair in one of their chubby fingers.

The other two were slightly unfamiliar to Rose, she hadn't seen them around much, the first girl was kind of short, she wore a dark blue flannel blouse and a pair of black jean shorts, her hair had been dyed a deep blue and she had a blank expression. Or at least she would have if the ghost of a mischievous smile hadn't been playing on her lips. It was clear to everyone in the room this teen wasn't afraid in the slightest.

Her companion however, looked like she was about to either faint or have a heart attack. This girl was absolutely tiny, with fluffy blonde hair that seemed to be giving physics the finger, as it stuck up in the front and a bit at the sides to look slightly like a triangle. She had round glasses that seemed a bit too big for her, along with an oversized green hoodie with an alien on the front, she was wearing dark green shorts and had long white socks. She was quivering and seemed to be trying to hide behind the taller girl.

Yella Diamond spoke with a tranquil fury "Miss Lazuli. To the back... And as for _you, Peridot..._ You will take a seat at the front, away from any else." She hissed, the little blonde looked up the woman before she scrambled into the desk closest to the door, while the blue haired girl sat 3 seats behind her, right in front of Garnet and Sapphire, who had taken the back seats. "Ah, I see you've already found your seat, Misty." She looked over at Smoky, who just nodded, although they flinched upon being called Misty.

"And you two, Miss Exitium and Miss Baelleonseu, come here and take your seats as well." Two more teenagers stepped into the room upon hearing their last names, the first was tall and muscular, with deep indigo hair that went down to her shoulders, she had a smug expression on her face as she adjusted her ripped black jeans and tapped one of her feet on the floor. Rose knew her, she was a year below the others but she was rather popular. Sugilite Exitium. A DJ in the making

The girl beside her did not look afraid, but disappointed at being caught, she adjusted her glasses and toyed around with her pale, almost white hair, which was in a large braid. She had a pretty green blouse and a grey skirt to go with lilac tights. Rose definitely knew her, she was the quirky and forgetful queen of the archery club. Opal Baelleonseu.

Rose tuned out Yella Diamond, because she already knew what these two had done to land detention, during the morning, the two girls (and Amethyst, who had surprisingly had not been caught) had managed to play a prank on the school. Opal had disabled the PA system, as she was in charge of a piece of announcements (not anymore though, not after that), and had given the cousins complete control to play a certain song.

They had chosen the ever classy 'Anaconda'.

Safe to say Opal had lost her privileges for... Well, ever.

The two took there seats near Smoky, who still hadn't looked up. With a huff, the vice principal left the room.

"Well now that we've all had the shit scared out of us... What now?" Asked Sugilite after about ten minutes as she leaned back in her chair.

"Yeah that really sucked." Said a light voice from the back of the room. Everyone (except Lapis, who had no interest) jumped and turned around, there in the corner of the room on the floor was Rainbow Quartz and Sardonyx Montrer, the two had been apparently been listening to music.

Amethyst's mouth quirked up "So? What aw ya in foor?" She asked with a weird accent "What'd the fuzz do to yehs?" she chuckled, Sardonyx stood up, brushed off her black pants and walked over to the smaller teen, taking a comb out of her pocket and fixing her gelled blonde hair.

"Oh we just skipped history class to practice dancing and improv in the theater." She spoke casually, as if skipping class to work on her 'act' were simply a chore she enjoyed doing.

Rainbow got up from where she had been sitting with a groan, "Yeah, I mean, we were just watching some old movie that both me and Sards already seen... It's not like we were gonna miss anything." She straightened her pale pink blouse and put her hands in the pockets of her white shorts before speaking again. "We would have gone back the second they found us too, so it's not like they had to freak out."

A nurse walked into the room, his name was Mr. Smiley, he was a tall, dark man with an almost constant grin, so Rose was sure he was either just super up for his own name... Or the Smiley thing was just a nickname. He also doubled as a child worker and most students liked him. He was also pretty cool about letting kids get away with things as long as they weren't breaking stuff.

"Alright Miss Nephrite. You can come in, there's other people in here just so you know in case you want to go somewhere else." He seemed to be trying to coax someone inside the room. A scrawny girl slowly made her way in like a terrified cat, Rose's heart broke, every person in the school knew this poor girl and the tragedy surrounding her. Jade Nephrite had been in an accident many years ago killed her siblings, damaged her eyes and left her mute. You would not meet not meet a single soul in the school who doesn't feel sympathy for this girl.

She held a book and pencil in her hands, she scribbled something down and showed it to the nurse, he patted her on the back and told her "Alright, but the reason you're here is just to make sure you don't do that again, you're a smart girl and nobody would want you to get hurt cause of the acid in the lab, kay?" He asked and Jade nodded, her fluffy white hair bounced as she did. She was dressed in and old fashioned green skirt and had a black t-shirt. She had a jade necklace on and seemed like holding part of it in her hand.

Smoky called out to her "Hey buddy, come sit with me?" they asked and pulled a chair of to them-self. Jade smiled, waved to the nurse and walked over to her friend.

But Mr. Smiley wasn't done yet. "Alex, Mala, I want you guys in here too." He called to two people in the hall, two incredibly tall teenage girls walked in slowly, the first was taller than anyone else in the room. Alex Andrite, or just Alexandrite as she preferred she was in one of Rose's classes, this teen practically ruled the school, not out of fear, but out of respect. She had long, somewhat wild hair that she dyed teal, a magenta tank top and ripped jeans that matched her turquoise shoes. She had sunglasses that hid her eyes, similar to Garnet. There were bloodstains under her nose and in her clothes.

The other girl was younger, just a year below them like Opal, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Rainbow; but she didn't really look it, she was just a couple inches shorter than Alex, but where the older girls hair was organized chaos, hers was hell, and it was pure white, too. She had strong arms, wide hips and long legs, giving the impression that she was _not_ someone to be screwed around with. Rose had seen her around the school terrorizing the younger students, that was another way that she and Alex were different, as this girl ruled the school through _fear_. Rose could see that her bottom lip had been ripped open, there was blood on her chin and white tank top. The teen had black and green denim shorts.

Pearl nudged Rose with her elbow, "Rose, i-it's her." her best friend whispered timidly, "Malachite Tossico."

Mr. Smiley turned to the girls, "Now, I don't want to hear anymore fighting from either of you, got it?" He asked, Alexandrite nodded, Malachite didn't do anything, Alex went to sit with Pearl, Rose and Amethyst.

"Mala, I know going to a new school can be strange, but this school is new for everybody. I know a lot of us know each other, but remember that many of these students went to the same school beforehand." The man tried to assure her, but she didn't seem to be listening. After a few moments of silence he just patted her shoulder and walked out of the room.

Malachite walked over to where Jasper was seated and pushed herself up on the teacher's desk, Jasper looked up at her, "You okay sis?" The buff teen asked. Ruby gasped from across the room.

"You guys are sisters?!" The short girl was in shock, Malachite nodded with a smug smile, showing off her sharp teeth.

"Yep, I'm the pretty one." Beside her, Jasper huffed and smacked her leg before glancing over at Ruby.

"I'm the _smart_ one." She pointed to herself. Malachite looked very offended and Alex snickered. The others just smiled and watched the trees sway in the wind outside. Lapis moved up to sit with Peridot, Sapphire and Garnet went over to sit with Ruby, and Sugilite sat and told jokes with Amethyst.

For the rest of the period the teens began to talk to one another, some papers were even passed around. Rose was glad Bismuth had managed to avoid getting caught taking parts out of the broken security camera from the tech/science wing entrance of the school. Who knew all it took to break a 'high tech' camera was a well thrown shoe?

Speaking of Bismuth... Rose just had a wonderful idea.


	3. The Morning After Part 1

_**AN: So I decided... The upcoming chapter that was gonna be purely texting? I can't do that to you guys... I mean, y'all would wanna see these guys trying to all have a night at the mall in better detail, right? That being said... I shall begin my plans... *Evil Laughter***_

The bell rang sharply in Lapis' ears, motivating her to walk faster to her class, she had finally gotten the schedule she wanted, which resulted in her having math class first, then English LIKE SHE ASKED FOR, then art and finally cosmetology, because yes. She liked getting to play with peoples hair and makeup.

There were people flooding the halls, everybody trying to rush to get to their classes, she recognized some of them. Opal, who was carrying a large camera, Smoky was trying to get into the locker that they and Lapis shared, and Limone Diamond, Peridot's sister. God how Lapis hated that pretentious little witch. Her phone buzzed.

Made_of_LOVE: Good morning everyone, I trust you all slept well.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Yeah sure if well means 'listen to my sister screech at her textbook in frustration before whipping it across the room' then I slept like a damn baby.

I_am_Malachite: Shut up! it's not my fault the teacher wants to test us 3 weeks in, I wasn't even fucking there for the first week!

Lapis looked at the text messages on the screen and sighed, she was Malachite's tutor, and if the younger girl was in a bad mood, it was gonna suck... If she hadn't already destroyed her work out of anger. She chose not to respond as her night had kinda sucked, baseball tryouts were boring and she had been rained on.

She walked into her math class and thanked any higher being out there that she wasn't late. She had gotten up late, forcing her to skip grabbing something that she would eat for lunch and making her have to run all the way to the school.

She sat at the back of the class before hearing two voices calling her name. "Hey, Laz! Come here!" "Lapis! How are you?" She looked over to her right and there they were, sitting a little ways off was Amethyst and Peridot. The two teens were a few months younger than Lapis, with Peridot being the youngest of them, as her birthday was in December. In the group, Lapis had May all to herself. Come to think of it, a lot of them had been born in the summertime.

She placed her books at her desk and walked over to the shorter girls, "So, you guys take this class, huh? How is it?" She asked them as she hopped up onto an empty desk, but she wouldn't ask why Amethyst was the advanced class, the purple haired girl hated math, she complained about it all the time during cosmo.

Peridot groaned, "This class is _so_ easy, I could even teach it myself if I wanted to. It's awful because I keep getting my work done and then I have nothing to do!" The little blonde snapped before handing Amethyst a calculator from her binder. The purple haired girl started working on an almost finished paper before she spoke up.

"Hey Lapis, we still need somebody to do the makeup/hair thing." She said to Lapis without even turning around, "By the way, Mr. Cormak is always late, so you don't need to rush here."

Lapis thought for a moment before her gaze dropped down to Peridot, she grinned, "How 'bout Peri?" The Hawaiian teen asked, she wanted to see if it was possible to tame the wild, fluffy blonde mane that her little friend called her hair. Not to mention Amethyst was looking for any excuse to use her dark green eyeshadow.

There was a soft growling sound, Peridot looked up from her hands, which were currently patting the desk Lapis was sitting on, her eyes went wide and her cheeks turned red, darkening when Lapis giggled, "I-I... Missed breakfast, I had to rush here and I don't have money to buy food." The little blonde murmured, Amethyst glanced over at her before pulling out her phone, a few moments later Lapis' phone once again buzzed.

purple_PUMA: so can anybody make a donation to the 'p-dot is hungry' foundation? She missed breakfast

La_Vie_En_Rose: Oh, alright. I'll see what I can do.

Icey_U: Tell me... Is my donation going to a truly good cause? I'm just kidding by the way, I'll help.

"Hey Dot, we got some donors!" Amethyst shoved her phone in the little blondes face with a cheeky smile, Peridot grabbed her own phone and began typing frantically, the blush never leaving her face.

PERIDOT5XG: ALL DONATIONS WILL BE APPRECIATED, WOW THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Lapis looked at Peridot's message and snorted, 'Wow, thanks!' was what the younger teen used to express gratitude, and while that was nothing new the way she had typed it was quite funny to Lapis' half-asleep mind.

"Alright class, sorry I'm late, let's begin shall we?" A short young man walked into the classroom, he had blonde hair that he seemed to be constantly pushing out of his face. He had a cup of what Lapis guessed was coffee, she also guessed that it was the reason he was late.

' _So this must be Mr. Cormak, let's see how this goes over.'_ The blue-haired teen thought to herself. She waved goodbye to Amethyst and Peridot before making her way back to her seat.

She opened up her binder, taking out a pencil and calculator before flipping to the math section, which still needed to be fixed so that it was in the front. "Alright, let's just wait for the announcements and then we can begin." Said Mr. Cormak, and he took a sip of his coffee; oh, how Lapis would have killed for something to just be able to wake her up. The teacher seemed to take notice of her and spoke once again "Oh yes, Miss Lazuli-"

"You can just call me Lapis, it's fine." She told him. He seemed a little confused before he simply shook his head and started up again.

"Yes, well anyway if you need help getting adjusted to this class, all you have to do is ask me." He explained, she simply nodded with a deadpan expression and subconsciously reached for her earphones, eyes widening before her face fell into a scowl when she couldn't feel the precious little two dollar speakers in her pocket.

This was going to suck.

POV SHIFT- Amethyst Prather

Amethyst looked over as Peridot quickly took down the notes on the board in barley legible writing, if you could even call it that, it looked more like weird scribbles, and instead of erasing a word when she made a mistake, she simply scratched it out.

She remembered meeting Peridot during the summer; Rose, Rainbow and herself had all been at some park skipping rocks at a pond while betting on who could get the farthest and similar things when the little nerd had leaped down from the boulder she had been using to spy on them. She started asking them questions like 'What kind of purpose would an activity such as this present?' 'How do you know which pebbles are of use?' And Amethyst's favourite 'May I attempt it?' Now, it wasn't the question itself that was funny, it was what immediately came after it.

Rose had given her a thumbs up and tossed her a stone, Peridot watched as Amethyst showed her the proper motions. The tiny blonde had wound up... And whipped the stone into the water with a small splash before the force of her throw had caused her to nearly fall in. Rainbow caught her before she fell, but then she had marched straight up to Rose and said,

'Sorry, but it appears this pond is broken.'

Now, she had been trying hard not to laugh when Peridot had almost gone for a swim, but when the blonde had said that Amethyst laughed so hard she nearly fell into the water herself!

The group had come back the next day, this time with more people, and so had Peridot. Apparently the girl was home schooled and came to the park to watch people after she had finished with her lessons.

"Miss Prather, are you still with us?" The teacher's voice brought her back from her visit down Memory Lane. The purple haired teen nodded and muttered curses under her breath as she tried her best to take down some of the note on the board.

' _This is my last year before I can get the hell out of here.'_ She told herself as she turned to ask Peridot about the rest of the note. In retrospect... How was she supposed to know that a tall kid would be sitting right in front of her? Or maybe he was just normal sized... She was like what? Five and a half inches tall?

After the handout sheet was passed around and everyone started working, Amethyst felt her phone go off.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Hey guys, anyone got a flashlight? Just say yes/no

Peridot had also gotten the message, she looked up from her phone at Amethyst with a raised eyebrow before both of their phones went off.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: And NO questions about it!

PERIDOT5XG: NO.

After her math buddies response, the purple haired teen decided to write her own message.

purple_PUMA: yeah I got one

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Umm, Yes?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Nope

I_am_Malachite: yes we do.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Stop making me interact with them!

don't_lapiss_me_off: I have like 3 y?

La_Vie_En_Rose: Ah! No questions, but I have 2

Centipeetle: yes. I do

Hopal_for_Opal: I have one... Or was it two?

Like-that-little-man?: GUYS I'M IN CLASS KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF

Icey_U: Alright I think that's good, we'll talk about this at lunch, Rose get Bismuth.

And after that message it stopped, Amethyst leaned back to look over at Lapis. The blue haired girl looked pissed for some reason as she punched numbers into her calculator, Amethyst could hear Peridot growl a little in frustration, she turned to see that her friend was also trying to watch Lapis. Being 4'9 wasn't helping her out very much.

"Whatsa matter P-dot?" She asked, the smaller teen jumped a bit and looked at Amethyst, blue-green eyes wide and bright.

"I... Was trying to get her attention, I wanted to know why she wanted to use me as her experiment for your class." Peridot explained, Amethyst studied her for a bit, she got it. Of course, there was probably another reason. The blue haired girl probably couldn't be damned to actually speak to anyone else, it was a miracle Lapis had even become friends with Peridot, given that while she was popular and well liked, she never really talked much.

"Well, she knows I have this green makeup I wanna use, it's really cool... But it doesn't really flow well with my style honestly it'd look better on you. And _I_ know Lapis likes playin around with hair. I'm putting money on it that she wants to see what she can do with you." Amethyst said to her, the nerd's hands flew up to her hair, the way it puffed out on the top and sides always made Amethyst think 'Triangle', it was where Peridot got the nickname 'Perito'.

"There is nothing wrong with my hair. But... If this is for a class... Ugh! Stop looking at me like that, my hair is fine! I'll do it." She grumbled after the purple haired teen had given her the 'you sure about that' look.

"Alright! See ya at lunch!" Amethyst shouted as the bell rang and students flooded out the door.

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli

' _Welp, off to English with Pearl, Sapphire and Smoky.'_ Lapis thought as she fixed the sleeves of her black hoodie, on the back of it was a large blue teardrop shape. The school was air-conditioned so wearing wasn't uncomfortable and besides, it wasn't like she was going to take it off anyway.

She gathered her books and stepped out into the hall. Peridot right by her side because being a smart-ass had its side effects, being pushed in the halls was one of them. Peridot travelled with Lapis a lot due to the Hawaiian's popularity amongst the others. People loved her and when you were respected in a high school, you were more likely to get through the hall without trouble. She didn't even know why people respected her so much, she didn't talk, (she was pretty good at art, was that it?) her face was mostly expressionless, (she held doors for people, that took patience), though she was good at baseball, and swimming. She had been asked out by many students at the school, but all they got was an unfazed "No."

"Um, Lapis? This is my class." Peridot spoke up from beside her, she looked down at the small blonde and smiled a bit.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking, see you at lunch, bye Peri!" She said, the smaller girl giggled and adopted an adorable cat-like grin. Not that Lapis herself thought it was adorable... It was just nice seeing her little friend smile instead of scowling. And that was it. Nothing else.

Anyway, back to her least favourite class of the day. The class where it didn't matter that she had left her earphones at home like a complete dumb-ass because as she learned from Peridot, Miss Agate seemed to hate phones with a vengeance.

She sat down next to Pearl, the tall girl was sketching a rose in her book. Lapis leaned over with a smug smile and said, "Don't forget the thorns." Pearl nearly jumped out of her seat before slamming her book shut.

"L-lapis! I didn't even realize you were there! You're in this class now?" Her voice had gone up a couple of octaves and she nervously started to comb her fingers through her peach coloured hair, the teen beside her once again demonstrated her poker-face skills. Her voice also took on a monotone, signifying boredom.

"I know. That's why I did it. This is the class I wanted to be in, but my schedule got screwed up." She said once Pearl calmed down and placed her drawing in the back of her book. Their phones buzzed. Lapis hid her phone in her desk but managed to check the message.

PERIDOT5XG: ONCE AGAIN I MUST OFFER A WOW THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO DECIDED TO GIVE ME FOOD! ALSO TO ROSE WHO GAVE ME MONEY.

Lapis smiled.

TIME SKIP

POV SHIFT- Alex Andrite

She watched as memes from every corner of the internet appeared on the screen of her phone, she hadn't actually said anything in the chat yet, it started back when her phone was off, and she only got on after everyone had left. And even then she still hadn't felt inclined to say anything.

Alexandrite, because sometimes it just sounded _so_ much better than just Alex, (not that she minded it much) made her way into the hall. She shoved her phone into her pocket and made sure to watch where she was going. She already had one bad encounter she didn't need another.

It was the first day of the second week. Mostly everyone had known about her, as many of the students had gone to the same high school beforehand, and even then, most students just looked up to her. (In both senses of the word, she was the tallest student in the school)

Most kids in the hall just moved out of the way. But not this one, not _her._ Alexandrite knew her name now, Malachite Tossico. She was only two inches shorter than Alexandrite herself, but she had the attitude to make up for it. The white haired girl was terrifyingly aggressive, and also seemed to have a habit of not watching where she was going.

The two teens had been coming around the same corner at different directions and had smacked straight into each other. While Alex had managed to stay standing, Malachite had not. The younger girl fell backwards, and when Alexandrite had offered to help her up, she had knocked her hand away roughly.

"I don't need your help!" The white haired girl roared at her before standing up and stalking away to her locker. All her life, nobody had ever reacted like that towards her, all around Alex, people were pretty nice due to her politeness. If she was honest, people were uninteresting... Most just wanted her help with petty problems. They only liked her because she had 'leadership qualities' and most people who had asked her out (which was a pretty high amount) had only done so because she was strong and (according to others) beautiful.

Malachite had lashed out at her, she wanted to know why. Alex also wanted to apologize for busting the girls lip.

She knew about the groups plans to eat in the courtyard, so she decided to head there, backpack slung over her shoulder as she made her way through a sea of students. Eating in the courtyard was not allowed at the school, you ate at a table in the cafeteria and that was it. It was awful in there, loud and filled with people, you had to shout to be heard and it was crowded despite what teachers would think. What did they know? They sat in a quiet staff room half the time anyway!

The courtyard was a little known secret amongst Alexandrite and her friends, despite not finding people in _general_ interesting, she very much liked these people. Alex looked around her to make sure there was no teacher around before changing course away from the cafeteria. She quickly made her way up a flight of stairs, passed through the art/geography wing before going down another flight of stairs and out the door into a small, circular area covered in grass with a large tree in the centre.

Nephrite was there, playing on her phone, Peridot ate pizza as she watched Lapis draw in a sketch book, Amethyst was listening to music while Sardonyx and Pearl braided her long hair, Sugilite, Jasper and Bismuth ate happily together, laughing and joking, Sugilite leaned over to Bismuth and whispered something in her ear, the rainbow haired teen chuckled and shoved her, taking her black sweater and throwing it at her, but the dark haired girl just kept laughing

Rainbow sat down with Rose, Ruby, and Sapphire, they were all around a large piece of paper, all talking amongst themselves before one of them would occasionally make a mark on the paper.

Two people came up behind her, Garnet and Smoky, the two had a pretty good friendship, even if Smoky did most of the talking.

"Whoop! Sorry Alex." Said Smoky as they went around her to go sit with Lapis and Peridot, Garnet passed by with a simple 'Hello.' before leaning on a tree. Smoky stopped in their path and turned around.

"Guys! Look who it is! I didn't think you even knew about the chatroom thing!" They said with excitement, the others looked up from what they were doing, Pearl waved to her and beckoned her to sit with them, Alexandrite walked over to them. Sardonyx waved while in the middle of trying to get a braid out of Amethyst's lilac mane.

"Hi Alexandrite, how are you?" The blonde teen asked, Amethyst pulled out a bag of potato chips.

"I'm alright, how are you?" She asked, setting down her backpack and pulling out her lunch. Bread-sticks, an apple and some rice, she sighed... She was a really picky eater, she'd have the apple and maybe the rice, and while she was thankful her dad cared enough to make lunch for her whenever she was at his house... He had no clue what she liked. (or hated, because god she hated bread-sticks)

"Does anybody want these?" Asked Alexandrite as she held up the bag, Sugilite raised her arms up and she tossed them over to her.

"Hey thanks. Forgot some of my damn food." Said Sugilite, who nearly threw a piece of bread at Jasper, the buff girl was asking her about what she had said to Bismuth.

There was a loud creak and one of the four doors to the courtyard opened, the last member of the group entered, _'Oh good, now I can say sorry.'_ Alexandrite thought to herself.

"Sis, come sit with us." Jasper waved to the younger teen, Malachite nodded, but when her and Alex's gazes locked, she glared at the taller girl.

"Malachite, I'm sorry for hurting you." Said Alex, the white haired teen looked slightly surprised, but then huffed and walked over to her older sister. She sat with them and started to pull out a container. Bismuth looked at her, eyes wide.

"Hey there! So you're Malachite huh? Don't you have babies to be scaring or something?" She asked her, instead of getting upset, Malachite smiled eerily, her bright green eyes gleamed in the sun.

"Alright, I'll show you what I can do. But just once, I wanna eat my food." She stood up to her full height, over six feet tall, and crept over to where Peridot was lying on her stomach watching Lapis. The white haired girl took off her sweater, revealing her black t-shirt, Alexandrite could see that she had dark green stripe tattoos going around her upper arms, they slightly resembled the marks on Jasper's arms.

The blonde girl was in the shade of the tree, she couldn't see Malachite creeping up behind her. The tall teen bent down and poked Peridot on the shoulder, her eyes wide open with a terrifying smile on her face. Peridot flipped over too look up at the younger girl.

"Hey there!" She shouted and Peridot shrieked, the tiny blonde backed away as Malachite started to laugh, Lapis turned around from her drawing.

"Mala! Leave her alone and go sit down. _Now._ " The older teen commanded, Malachite stopped laughing and looked at her, her expression slightly hurt before she tried to put on a tougher front.

"Alright, alright, sorry..." She muttered, it was funny, she kind of looked like a scolded child despite the fact that Lapis was much shorter.

Alex heard Ruby calling to the others. Saying that 'the plan' was ready, the teal haired girl stood from where she had been sitting and listening to Pearl and Sardonyx talk about the third vice principal, Rosa Diamond, who hadn't shown up to school yet.

She handed Peridot piece of her apple, remembering the messages concerning the short girl's dilemma from earlier. Peridot thanked her and ran to go see what idea the others had cooked up.

"Alright, is everyone around? Tuck in please I want everyone listen carefully." Said Rose, Alex respected the pink haired teen, she was motherly and patient, it was no wonder many younger students looked up to her.

She smoothed out her pink and white sundress, and pointed to the paper sitting in front of her, "So do you all recognize this map?" She asked, they all nodded. It was the 'Oceanway Mall', it was huge with many little stores inside. "This is the reason we asked you all if you had flashlights. You need to bring them to the dorm where Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and myself live, and we will pack them up." She said in a slightly low voice, Alex had a feeling she knew where Rose was going with this. "Peridot, Lapis was telling me about your computer skills before you showed up. She said you could get into most systems, and that's how you helped her get away with pranks." Rose turned to the little blonde, she was sitting with Garnet and Amethyst, She laughed nervously.

"Y-yeah, I can get into things pretty easily." Her confidence grew as she spoke, and a wide smile grew on her face.

"Oh good. Then I need you to bring your equipment." She said, and Peridot looked confused. She took a bite of apple before speaking again.

"Why? What's it for?"

"Because we..." Said Rainbow, and she paused for dramatic effect and they all leaned in, some quivering with anticipation, "Are gonna have a fun night at Oceanway."


	4. The DayNight After Part 2

_**AN: Massive trigger warning for child abuse. Sorry for the hiatus! By the way... As of the beginning of this chapter, the date is September 30th. I'll tell you guys the date at the beginning of each chapter from now on.**_

Centipeetle: so what time are we all going?

What-can-I-do4u: When did you say we should go Sugi? 6?

Made_of_LOVE: We should keep it on here just so nobody forgets, I'm... A bit bad with time management

Like-that-little-man?: No, no. 6:30 and bring money cause we're eatin dinner there

From where she had been sitting, Peridot called out to the taller (by default) people, "I can't eat there, but I'll join you at the scheduled time." She explained, looking down at her feet, her knees were pulled up to her chest.

Suddenly everyone's phones started to go off at once, upon opening the chatroom, they could see Malachite sending picture after picture, Jasper looked over at her younger sister, her amber eyes filling with anger.

"Knock it off with the Spongebob memes, you're NOT coming with us, you're 16 years old!" She shouted, the tall teen flipped her off but didn't look up from her phone. Jasper huffed, the tall girl rolled her eyes as she pushed her pale bangs away from her face and shoved her phone into the pocket of her shorts.

The younger teen snapped, "It's not fair! Amethyst and Peridot get to go, and they aren't 17 yet! Stop treating me like a child." Her voice was loud and filled with rage, the tall girls eyes were filled with a seething jealousy.

"Stop acting like one." Jasper's nonchalant response came immediately, and up in the huge tree with a mouth full of food Amethyst barked at the white younger teen.

"Tha' was a low blow, dude! Nah cool!" The tiny girl shouted and then swallowed, "I'm going 'cause I'm almost 17, Peridot's goin' because we need'er... And don't say Sugilite shouldn't go because this was _all_ her idea, the others just planned it."

"Yes, and Sardonyx and I work there... So I guess we're going too." Said Rainbow, she took a small sip of soda before throwing the can in the recycling. Malachite growled from where she was seated and the dancer just went over to Pearl.

"Mala, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not 17 yet either, so I don't think I could go either, but you could hang out in my dorm with me if you want." Said Opal, Malachite just looked up at her with a deadpan expression

"Oh, thanks I feel _so_ much better." Said Malachite, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Opal shrugged and went back to writing something in her binder.

"Honestly, Jasper come on! What difference does it make if I'm 17 or 16 years and 364 days old?" The white haired girl asked her older sister. Beside Jasper, Bismuth whistled loudly. The rainbow haired girl patted her best friends arm.

"I think she's gotcha there, Jazzy. Kinda hard to argue that, and I mean, c'mon, sure she still has another year to go, but we may as well all go, right?" Said Bismuth, Jasper looked annoyed and slightly betrayed, she flicked Bismuth on the shoulder before she turned to face her sister. Malachite's face was smug and she had a huge grin.

"Yes, Jasper?" The white haired teen asked, her voice sickly sweet. Her older sister gave her the finger.

"You can come with us." Said Jasper through gritted teeth.

Opal raised her hand and spoke up once again, "So.. I can go too?" She asked, Rose nodded right before the bell rang and fear filled her face.

"I have class on the other side of the school!" She said, and hurried off in a panic. Pearl, who had her third period with the pink haired girl, ran as well.

TIME SKIP- An hour and a half

POV CHANGE- Lapis Lazuli- School Hallway

' _Alright, finally... Just this last class and I can head home and start packing for the mall.'_ Lapis thought to herself as she waited for Peridot to catch up with her, the blonde was trying to shove two books into her small locker at once. Lapis snorted, "Here, let me hold one of them for you." She said, and Peridot nodded in a silent thank you. Lapis rolled her eyes, the little nerd was so impatient, although she guessed she should be thankful for that, as rushing around had been how they met.

FLASHBACK

It was the first day of school, Lapis sped through the hallways, dodging people left and right. Little did the blue haired teen know, someone else was doing it too. She ran past a corner, or at least she would have if she had not collided with another, smaller teenager. The two of them had dropped all of their books, the blonde had tried to apologize, but Lapis had scooped up her things and took off at a speed that would make Sonic go 'damn!'

In her haste to collect everything however, one item remained. Her journal. The blonde had picked it up and spent the rest of the day tyring to track Lapis down. Eventually Peridot found her in the art club room, and the two hit it off. With Peridot even joining the club a few days later.

After that, the two had gotten along phenomenally. The school had a large and mostly unsupervised pool that Lapis loved swimming around in, sometimes she would dive to the bottom to have Peridot time how long she could stay down there. Or she would swim laps with the blonde being her little cheerleader, encouraging her to go faster. She wouldn't come into the pool herself though.

She snapped back to reality when Peridot spoke up, "Alright Lapis, I'm ready." Said the tiny nerd, her eyes gleamed with excitement, "What exactly are you going to do?" She asked, and her head tilted. Lapis' pale blue eyes glowed with joy, she almost ended up dragging her little friend up to the upper floors of the technology wing.

"I need to see if I can do something with your hair, I love challenges, so this is going to be good. I can tell." She led the blonde into a room where the air was sweet with hair care products and the floor was shiny and slightly slippery due to being coated in hairspray.

Peridot ended up slipping, and Lapis nearly snorted. She helped the smaller teen back to her feet, she was muttering about the 'clody floor'. She could see Amethyst was already there, playing on her phone while she waited for her friends. Lapis called over to her and her head snapped up, she quickly shoved her phone into her bag.

"Hey guys! What took you so long?" The Hispanic girl asked, "Kay nevermind don't answer, no time. Laz you start on her hair, I'm gonna go grab the makeup from my locker." She said, and Lapis nodded, Amethyst could be lazy, but she _LOVED_ this class. The Hawaiian teen led her friend over to a large chair. She took out a red comb, a spray-bottle and a little pink brush.

"Alright Hoaloha, just relax." She said, the smaller girl looked behind her, her eyes filled with confusion. "It's the Hawaiian word for friend." Peridot gave her a huge grin and Lapis giggled.

The blue haired delinquent hummed. "Oh, actually I'll be working with water, you should take your glasses off." Peridot shrugged and placed them on the little table. Lapis started to lightly spritz her hair. "So why is your name Peridot? You weren't born in August, unless you lied to me in which case I _will_ pour some of this down your shirt."

Peridot giggled at her fake threat, "No, no... Mama and Papa thought the gem was pretty... I-it was Mama's favourite." Lapis nodded, "So now I feel I may ask you a question... Why is your name Lapis?"

Her face went completely deadpan. "Papa thought it was funny, Dad agreed." She said before she tried to brush through a knot, Peridot squeaked in pain before she flinched. Lapis cringed, she didn't want to hurt her best friend... She got an idea, her Dad tried this when he tried to get her hair untangled whenever he tried to teach Lapis how to surf. His job was surf instructor before the little family had moved and everything changed.

She put the spray-bottle down and started to gently scratch and massage the back of Peridot's head with one hand. The little blonde sighed blissfully and leaned into it, perfect. The trick was to distract them so you could work slowly at the knot with your other hand. Well, you needed to know how do undo knots like that at all with only one hand, but that was a different story. She went to work once she heard Peridot's breathing deepen.

Amethyst walked back over to the two, she looked at the blonde and her eyes widened, "Uh, Lapis, knock it off." The purple haired girl told her, "She's about to fall asleep!" Lapis looked up from one of the few remaining knots, she was quite fast due to having to due her own mess of hair all the time.

"What?" She peered around the edge of the chair and sure enough, Peridot had very nearly fallen asleep! She gently shook the blonde's shoulder. "Wake up Per-bear, can't fall asleep on us." She said and the blonde groaned. Lapis sighed with relief, Peridot was an extremely heavy sleeper.

"I wasn't sleeping, I just closed my eyes." She hissed and Amethyst snickered before turning on her music and going to work. Lapis gave her a look of disgust as some weird pop song came on. Amethyst growled in annoyance, she finished up putting blush on one of Peridot's cheeks and grabbed her phone.

"Seriously Opal?! Stop doing this!" She said as she deleted the song with a small huff, Lapis combed through the top of Peridot's hair, making sure to keep her head still while the nerd tapped lightly on the arm rests of the chair.

"Put on Heathens please, it's one of the only songs you have that I like." She said in a monotone. _'Not to mention my favourite song.'_ Amethyst nodded and turned it on. They finished up quickly, it was a rather simple job. Their teacher had liked it.

"So, how do I look?" Peridot asked the two. They grinned and the purple haired teen pulled out a small mirror. Peridot's blonde mane had been brushed down, it now hung around and past her shoulders, even covering the sides of her face. Amethyst gave her 2 thumbs up and the Greek girl seemed impressed. "Wow..."

"You look beautiful." Said Lapis, and she snorted as Peridot's face went pink. There was the loud ring from the front of the room, the teacher called over to the little group.

"Amethyst Prather! The principal wants to speak with you." She said and the Hispanic girl froze. Lapis' eyes widened, Blanche Diamond only spoke if there was an issue, a big issue. Either that or someone was in the hospital.

Amethyst gave the teens a look that said 'Save me!', Lapis saluted her. She hoped it wasn't too bad. Amethyst had been through enough in terms of family losses. She looked down at Peridot, who was tapping her hands on the arm rests. "Okay Peri. I'll get that off of you." She said and turned the chair around. "Although, you'll have to mess up your own hair." She smiled and laughed when Peridot hissed.

She was wiping off some of the tiny bit off black eyeliner when Peridot tilted her head slightly. "No, no. Keep your head straighter, I need to..." Lapis' voice trailed off when the blonde moved her head again. There was a dark smudge near her eye, it was small, and would have been covered by her glasses, but those were still resting on the table. _'Seriously Amethyst, why do you have to get makeup everywhere, you're lucky the teacher didn't notice!'_ The blue haired teen thought, she went to wipe away the smudge when Peridot winced.

"Ow! That hurt, what was that?" She asked, Lapis stared at her, the blonde's blue-green eyes were filled with confusion as she held her hand the spot the Hawaiian girl had been rubbing. "What are you doing?"

Lapis raised an eyebrow. "I'm just trying to take the makeup that got onto the side of your face..." She said and looked again, the smudge hadn't changed a bit. "But it's not coming off..."

"Then it's not makeup." Peridot answered bluntly. Lapis' eyes widened, she handed Peridot's glasses back to her after swiping off the last little bit.

"You aren't being bullied, are you?" She asked and her best friend looked a bit nervous.

"It's nothing. This morning, when I was rushing around my house... I fell on my face and I guess it bruised." Honestly, Peridot was the clumsiest girl she'd ever met! She had nearly fallen into the pool twice, with the only thing saving her being Lapis.

"Alright..." Said Lapis she and hugged her best friend, "Well be more careful next time. I don't want my Hoaloha getting hurt." She said and Peridot nodded, Lapis started to grab her things. "See you tomorrow!" She said happily and the blonde started to mess her hair up again.

Peridot looked up at her, the blue haired girl smirked and booped her nose. "Hey! You clod!" She screeched and Lapis snorted again before heading into a fit of giggles. This really was her favourite class.

TIME SKIP- A couple hours later

POV SHIFT- Pearl Oiseau- In the dorms

"So yeah, my cousin's having a kid, and my mom thought she would tell me this and give me a little heart attack!" Amethyst ranted as she loudly chewed her gum, Pearl just sat there with her tea. She was not addicted to it no matter what the purple haired girl said.

Playing therapist as usual, Pearl nodded, "Well, it's good your mother cares so much about you to let you know one simple thing." She said, Amethyst turned to her and gave her a quirked smile.

"And that's why she needs to learn to use a cellphone!" The Hispanic teen said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world before her eyes widened. "Oh wait. P I'm sorry I know your folks-" Pearl cut her oldest friend off before she could answer.

"It's fine Amethyst, really. It doesn't hurt anymore for me. I wasn't even thinking about that..." Said the French girl, Amethyst nodded before going to sit down beside her. The short teen leaned on Pearl, who gave a silent laugh before turning on the TV so that the two could watch Youtube on it together.

About a half hour later, Garnet walked in holding three backpacks, Ruby and Sapphire right behind her. "So we have the supplies now. We're all set for the mall." The tall girl told them, Pearl nodded and tried to shake Amethyst off, the small girl had nearly fallen asleep, it was actually kind of adorable.

"No P... I'm comfy..." She whined and Pearl chuckled. She'd let Amethyst stay on her arm for a little while longer. It was starting to get a bit cold anyway...

Sapphire sat down on the tiny couch across from the two. "So, what do you two plan to do when we're there?" The pretty teen asked, "Ruby, Sardonyx and I are going into the mattress store." Ruby went over to the open window and shut it before going to sit with her girlfriend.

"Pearl, Rose and I are hangin' out at some store. I don't really care where we go." Said Amethyst. Pearl laughed and nodded, _technically_ they were heading to a book store and the candy store. (Despite the fact that Pearl HATED sweets.) But it was Rose's idea to do something both girls liked, as Amethyst loved candy and the peach haired girl adored books. Her birth mother had been a librarian.

don't_lapiss_me_off: oh god I swam 10 laps and I wanna die.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Hey Rose, you're not watching kids right?

La_Vie_Ein_Rose: Umm, no... Why?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: BECAUSE HOLY SHIT I JUST CAUGHT MY SISTER WATCHING HAPPY TREE FRIENDS

don't_lapiss_me_off: ugh... that's worse than when you made me watch salad fingers. Nightmares for a week.

PERIDOT5XG: WHAT IS THIS... 'SALAD FINGERS'? OR 'HAPPY TREE FRIENDS'?

Hopal_for_Opal: eww, Sugilite made me and Sardonyx watch it. Peridot, do NOT look it up.

PERIDOT5XG: OKAY? WHY?

don't_lapiss_me_off: Peri. Do. Not. Look. It. Up.

PERIDOT5XG: OKAY... SORRY.

Like-that-little-man?: Oh I remember watching that with you guys! Opal cried.

Hopal_for_Opal: No I didn't she's lying!

Like-that-little-man?: so Jasper what did Mala do when you caught her?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: oh god she didn't even turn around. She just said 'get out I'm watching my show.' safe to say I hauled ass outta there.

I_am_Malachite: I'll turn it up if you don't leave me alone.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: GOOD GOD DON'T

don't_lapiss_me_off: do it Mala.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

I_am_Malachite: sure.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: LAZULI WHAT THE FUCK! NOOOOO OH GOD I CAN HEAR IT NOW!

Pearl watched as Sapphire laughed so hard she started crying, Amethyst cackled next to her and Ruby was using every last bit of willpower to not slam her fist on the arm of the couch.

Made_of_LOVE: Good job, Malachite, you've done well.

I_am_Malachite: Oh I wasn't joking when I said it was my show. I love this stuff, I watch it for shits and giggles.

Made_of_LOVE: I take it back. Eww...

TIME SKIP- 4 hours later

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond- Diamond Residence

"Lapis has kept up with her nicknames, today she called me 'Hoaloha'... Apparently it is the Hawaiian word for friend... All in all, I've had a rather good day today, other then being frightened by Malachite. I plan to go to the mall with my new friends tomorrow and I hope the outing goes well..." She spoke into her little tape recorder before clicking the off button and pulling out the tape. It was labelled 'thoughts', she stuffed it into her hiding spot between her mattresses with the rest of the tapes before pulling out one that was labelled 'New Friends, 2' and putting it inside.

The short blonde walked part of the way downstairs after hiding her tape recorder away. She had taken so many notes about her new friends that she had to buy a new tape! She listened for any activity going on in the downstairs floor, she knew Limone was up in her room reading, but what was Miss Diamond doing?

"Peridot! Come here!" Miss Diamond called and Peridot jumped, almost falling down the rest of them. She hurried over to the tall woman and adjusted her glasses a bit, she saw from TV that it made you look smarter.

"Y-yes, Miss Diamond?" She asked, she hated it when she stuttered, why couldn't she just get words out?! She tried her best to look the blonde woman in the eyes.

"Any security breaches?" Yella Diamond asked. Peridot shook her head vigorously. That was her job, she had been taught how to get into systems since Yella had adopted her all those years ago. Peridot had been trained since childhood how to invade entire networks and conquer them, the school's security system was basically her baby; it was up to her to protect it from hackers, pranksters and clods that clicked on obvious viruses.

Yella Diamond nodded slowly. "Now tell me why you were coming down the stairs." Peridot stood there, stammering before Yella raised her voice a little. "I'd like an answer please Peridot."

"I... I wanted to know if tomorrow... M-my friends wanted to hang out at the mall. T-they need me there for the something-" She was cut off suddenly by the sound of Limone from upstairs.

"Mom! Can we have dinner now? I want to go to my friends house later, remember I'm sleeping there!" She called and Peridot sighed, Limone could usually put the girls mother in a good mood. The tall woman grinned.

"Of course, dear. Peridot, please get to the point. What time will you be leaving?" Asked Yella. Peridot's eyes lit up, was she really going to go?!

She resisted the urge to flap her hands, "I need to be there tomorrow for 6!" She said and Limone's awful voice rang once again, it was sudden and Peridot flinched.

"Um, no. Mom needs to pick _me_ up from my friends house tomorrow at 6!" She hollered, and Yella nodded, the blonde woman looked down and Peridot had to fight her body as not to step back. She was terrified of anyone over 6 feet tall. Yella was 6'5.

Peridot felt a hand on her shoulder, she snapped her head up to look at her mother. "Peridot, you will need to get one of your... Friends... To pick you up. Be back by 10. Or else." Her face was stern, Yella didn't like Peridot's new friends, she called them delinquents. The Greek teen nodded and smiled.

"Thank you Miss Diamond!"

TIME SKIP- The next night, 9:15. Mall (past closing time)

Peridot sat on the back of a toilet holding her precious laptop. She had been picked up by Ruby and Sapphire, and sat with Lapis on the way there. The blue haired girl looked weary and exhausted. When Peridot tried to ask her about it however, she just shook her head, something about her parents. Peridot hadn't picked it all up.

Now they had all gotten into the mall. The flashlights had been handed out. The group was now hiding in the woman's bathroom, the smallest people sat on the backs of toilets. In her stall was herself, Centi, Lapis, and Jasper. She didn't know about the others, but Lapis and Centi had their feet on the sides and leaned on the stall walls. Jasper just stood there.

"Guys... I may have to pee." Said Smoky, they were in the stall next to Peridot. She could hear Bismuth hiss at them.

"You piss while we're in here and I will break you." The huge girl whispered and the Italian teen gave a nervous laugh. Bismuth spoke up again, "Hey Jazzy, where's Mala?" She asked, and Jasper shushed her.

The white haired girl huffed, "She's been so bitchy lately... I don't know what's gotten into her... But no I don't know, she said she's coming a bit later."

Rose spoke up from the furthest stall, the curvy girl had been the first to arrive, Peridot liked her even though they had barely talked since the early summer. "Peridot, is everything ready? We have the uh, Pineapple... Working like you said." She spoke quietly, Peridot straightened her shirt and murmured.

"That is good... But I need something to put my laptop on." She said and Lapis smirked. The taller girl pointed at Jasper.

"Let Peri use your back." She said and Jasper rolled her eyes. The buff teen grumbled about it, but she did bend down to let Peridot use her back as a table.

"Thank you. Now all I have to do is make sure I tricked their computers into connecting to my Pineapple's- Yes I know, stupid name- fake wi-fi. And then my computer will have full access to the security systems to shut them down and manipulate them to do whatever I please. All I have to do is disable the electronic locks and record footage with no people walking around feed to the cameras." She explained to them with a slightly evil laugh, her voice was strong and filled with confidence, technology was her element, after all. Centi's eyes widened and Lapis looked amazed.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, "You're smart enough to make it sound so simple, Hoaloha." She whispered to Peridot and the blonde blushed a bright red.

"It's, umm... Really not that hard..." She stammered until Jasper groaned. She looked down at her.

Jasper's face wasn't visible, but Peridot guessed she was annoyed. "You know what is hard? This computer. So hurry up and get it off." The Fijian teen growled. Lapis nudged her with a foot, giving Peridot a mini- heart attack as she thought the girl would fall in.

"Quit complaining." Lapis said without any emotion. There was the sound of the bathroom door opening and the group of teens froze, dead silent.

"You guys in here?" It was Malachite, there was a collective sigh of relief throughout the cramped room. "You can come out now. This place has like only one guard. He's not around right now." Peridot was lifted off of her spot by Lapis (she was only 75 pounds, Lapis lifted her like it was nothing) and was placed softly on the ground. She grabbed her laptop from Jasper and went to work, feeding the security system false information and making sure to watch what was really being seen in order to keep an eye on the guard.

Her phone went off, Peridot scrambled to turn it down before she checked the school's chat app. She had to monitor this thing too, but she carefully avoided the code Bismuth had created in order to make an unauthorized chatroom. If students were working on a group project, a teacher would give them a code to make a temporary room to talk in, Bismuth made a special one, one whose code scrambled itself to make it _almost_ undetectable.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: We need to stay quiet when we get out there, so I think texting is a better option

POV SHIFT- EVERYONE

The group nodded and stepped out of their hiding places. Jasper gasped "Mala, does dad know you have those clothes?!" She asked angrily and Malachite laughed. The tall girl was wearing a crop top and shorts, she was showing off the dark green tattoos that looked like rings on the side of her stomach.

"Oh please, dad doesn't even know I have these." She said smugly as she pointed to the green rings. Lapis gave her a thumbs up before Alexandrite spoke up from where she was leaning on one of the hand dryers.

"I think you look good." She said calmly and Malachite glared at her, the white haired girls cheeks were slightly pinkish. She wasn't used to compliments.

Malachite growled, "Yeah well I didn't ask how you liked them." She snapped defensively. Alex just raised her arms up and chuckled.

"Alright guys. Let's have some fun. Peridot, Lapis, Nephrite and I are heading to a gaming store." Said Garnet, her Peridot and Lapis all left the bathroom together, all going in the same direction.

Rose tapped Pearl's arm, "You and Amethyst are coming with me!" She squealed with delight. "We're going to the candy store first, are you alright with that?" Pearl blushed and nodded. The Hispanic teen put her phone back in her pocket. "What are you doing?" The pink haired girl asked her and Amethyst grinned.

"I'm live tweetin' this bitch." She said before her face fell, "Wait a minute... That doesn't have a chance of getting us arrested does it?"

Jasper and Bismuth hurried out of the bathroom. Jasper barely had the time to fix her red tank top on the way out. "Dude, for gods sake slow down!" She whisper shouted.

Alexandrite headed out without a sound, Smoky and Rainbow followed soon after; laughing about the puns Smoky was making.

"So... Can I have a flashlight?" Malachite asked, Sugilite shook her head and laughed.

"Sorry, but that's what you get for coming late!" The indigo haired teen laughed heartily as she walked out with Opal, the two friends leaving the tattooed girl to fume by herself.

POV SHIFT- Malachite Tossico- Just outside the bookstore

I_am_Malachite: Peridot, unlock the bookstore and disable the stuff in it.

PERIDOT5XG: OKAY, YOU NOW HAVE THE ACCESS TO GO IN. also i think lapis is thencjsdnnlkl

PERIDOT5XG: LAPIS TOOK MY PHONE, IGNORE THAT LAST SENTENCE.

Malachite laughed to herself as she slipped into the store. She looked around and took a deep breath, it smelled of ink, paper, and a faint hint of coffee. She yawned and went over to the shelves, using her phone as a light, and started reading. Her family couldn't afford most of the books here, so she'd read them now to avoid starting a fight with the manager. She sat down and pulled out a horror story.

"Oh, you like reading too?" There was a voice behind her that made her jump, Malachite whirled around, the light from her phone faded at the exact worst time. But at that moment, a flashlight flicked on, shining right into her face. It lowered and she could see again, even if her sight was blurry she could definitely tell who it was. Alex Andrite. Why did the universe hate her?

"What are YOU doing here?" She hissed, Alex bent down to meet her height. The teal haired girl had a black t-shirt coupled with jeans, and still had her sunglasses on, despite the fact that it was 1) 9:32 at night, and 2) the store was dark.

"I think I made myself clear, but in case you weren't listening, I like reading." Alex looked down at her book. "Stephan King, huh? Good tastes." Malachite backed away from the taller girl, her anger growing. Why was she being nice?! This was so infuriating!

"And I thought I made myself clear. LEAVE ME ALONE!" She whisper-shouted and pounded her fist on the floor. Alex looked at her, she seemed a bit hurt.

Alex got down on her knees. "Look, I'm really sorry for what I did. You seem like a cool girl, and I wanted to be friends." She said slowly and Malachite felt like a dick. Okay, _maybe_ she was being a _little_ mean. The white haired girl sighed. She opened her mouth to say something when her phone buzzed, she and Alex took their phones out at the same time.

PERIDOT5XG: ALEXANDRITE AND MALACHITE, HIDE NOW! THE SECURITY GUARD IS HEADED YOUR WAY!

Panic set in immediately, her and Alex were in plain sight, the two were sitting ducks! She scrambled away, leaving her book behind her. Malachite ran over to the one bookcase that blocked her from the storefront's view, if the guard walked by, he wouldn't see her. Her breathing was speeding up and she could feel her Anxiety creeping up behind her.

"Move over!" She jumped when Alex's voice sounded beside her. The teal haired girl was scooting beside her, the flashlight now turned off. Malachite was starting to panic. Why did she want to come here?! This was an awful idea! She could hear Alex's calm voice, "What's wrong?"

"I-I... I can't do this!" She whispered, she was starting to shake, her head was hurting and she was starting to feel like she couldn't breath. "T-talk to me. Please..." Alex's face was unreadable. "H-here, I'll start. W-what the fuck is with the name? Why do you like being called Alexandrite?" Alex smiled.

"I like it, it makes me feel powerful. Like I can breath fire." She said and Malachite gave a breathy laugh.

"Y-yeah, and I can fly." She said. This girl was kind of funny, it was helping. She could feel her mind starting to ease a little. She could hear Alexandrite ask, 'Why did you hate me?'

She stared at her through somewhat narrowed eyes. "You seemed so arrogant. It was like, 'oh look at me, I'm super tall and everyone loves me for some reason. Oh and I like to wear cool sunglasses inside.'" She said all in one breath. Alex took off her glasses but it was too dark to see much, all she knew was that Alexandrite was grinning.

"You... You think my sunglasses are cool?" Malachite blushed and grit her teeth. Alex was still infuriating to understand. She layed down on her back and pulled out her phone, angling it so that the light wouldn't be noticeable.

I_am_Malachite: IS HE GONE YET!?

don't_lapiss_me_off: no, he sat down on the bench, Peri's phone died so I get to be the reporter

Malachite groaned. She was stuck in here with Alex Andrite and she wanted nothing more then be home with her dogs... She remembered to put Biggs and Crazy Lace in their crates, right?

POV SHIFT- Bismuth Burkhart- Inside the furniture store

"Bismuth, come here... Look at how cheap this stuff is!" The dark skinned teen heard her best friend laughing quietly as the two explore the little store. She chuckled along with her until her gaze swept around to look for the white haired girl... And locked onto something else.

There in the corner of the store was something crouched down... And Bismuth could see it shaking. "Hey... Jazzy." Bismuth whispered, "Look in the corner." She found Jasper and tapped her on the shoulder before she pointed to it. "Somebody else is in here..." Jasper nodded and pulled out her phone.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Is there anybody else in the furniture store near the food court?

Made_of_LOVE: Peridot, Lapis, Centi and myself aren't.

purple_PUMA: nope, I got Rose and P with me too

I_am_Malachite: No. And I'm stuck with Alex. Please send help.

Centipeetle: opal and sugilite are not there, and neither are ruby and sapphire. Or sardonyx. I just saw them all running by.

All the rest of the answers were a no. Bismuth watched as Jasper slowly made her way over to the human shaped figure. "Psst." The large teen hissed and it jumped.

"H-hello?" The voice was female, a little low, and nervous. There was a small teenage girl huddled in the corner. Bismuth shone her flashlight over at her. She was a bit smaller than Lapis, she seemed to be of Korean origin. Her hair was long, straight and sea green, it cascaded over her shoulder. She had a white cardigan and pale blue skirt.

Bismuth walked over to her and bent down to be eye level, "Hey there... Don't be scared... Who are you?" The tall teen asked and the shivering girl looked up. "My name is Bismuth, and this lovely brute is Jasper."

"My n-name is Aqua... Aqua Marina." She said and Jasper gave a soft laugh. "M-my dad was high when he named me." Jasper shut her mouth.

"Wait a minute. I know you! You and I went to the same school before Diamond Academy was built... Yeah, you had a nervous breakdown and hid in the freezer." Said Bismuth, and Aqua's voice went deadpan.

"Good to see that's my legacy." She muttered. "L-look, I _really_ need help. My girlfriend and I snuck in here with our friend... But we all g-got separated." Aqua explained.

Bismuth nodded, "Okay, what does your girlfriend look like?" She asked, "We can tell our friends, and they can tell us if they've seen her."

Aqua looked between the two taller girls. "Well..." She started, "She looks like you guys."

Bismuth raised an eyebrow, "If you are trying to flirt with us, that is the best damn pickup line I have EVER heard!" Aqua tilted her head, clearly confused, before she waved her hands wildly.

"N-no, you've got it all wrong! She has long curly black hair, and she's kinda muscular." She said and her cheeks flushed. "Her name is Cat..."

Jasper smirked, she leaned close to Bismuth and whispered, "Here kitty..." It took every fiber of the rainbow haired teens being not to laugh. Aqua just sighed.

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond- Game Stop

She sat cross-legged behind the counter at the (thankfully) air conditioned store, Peridot watched as Garnet was talking with Centi about games. "Come on Nephrite. I'll get you one if you want." The tall girl said to the Indian teen, whose somewhat blurry eyes lit up.

 _Really?!_ Centi signed, according to Pearl she was getting much better at it. Peridot knew it because her cousin Bella had selective mutism. Garnet nodded and smiled a bit.

"Of course, we're friends and I do recall me owing you a favour." Centi pointed to one of the games on the lower shelf and Garnet grabbed it. She handed it to the white haired girl, who gave a wide smile and nodded her thanks.

Peridot had to duck once again as a light brown hand reached down from the counter. Lapis had entered the 'Happy Drunk' stage of tired and was trying to play with the blonde's hair. The blue haired girl was lying on the counter with her arm dangling down. She had a long sleeved black shirt and jean shorts, a rather odd combination, but who was Peridot to judge? She had a lime green t-shirt and beige camouflage shorts on.

"Come ooonnn! Just lemme pet you!" Her voice was a bit slurred through her giggles. Peridot gave a crooked smile as she looked up, Lapis was almost in tears from laughing and she was holding her stomach, "Just a little?"

Peridot's face went blank. "No." Lapis stuck out her bottom lip and gave the blonde her best cute face. It... May have worked...

"Aww, yay! You're so fluffy... By the way, I need something." She said and Peridot nodded a bit, her hair being played with by the basically drunk Lapis. "Take a picture with me." She said and laughed again.

Peridot tilted her head before doing another quick scan of the cameras, her hands never faltering. "Sure, I would love to." Lapis flopped over, almost on top of Peridot, the blonde was already going to tell her to get down. The blue haired girl seemed unfazed from her little fall however, and pulled out her phone. She pulled Peridot close and smiled, Peridot blushed a little and grinned.

Lapis looked down at her phone before typing something, she showed it to the blonde. She had put a caption in the photo, 'Best Friends Forever'.

Garnet leaned over, "You know, there's a little shop where you can get that printed. I'll watch the cameras for you." She said and Lapis nodded, the swimmer looked at her best friend.

"You can keep it if you want." She said and Peridot grabbed her hand to lead her out of the cool store. The partners in crime walked quickly down through the empty mall, it was so quiet it was almost eerie, but it filled Peridot with adrenaline. Lapis giggled maniacally and Peridot blushed when she looked up at the girl, because just for a split second, they had been running underneath a sky light. Something about the full moon's light running off of her...

Peridot entered the store. (She had shut its locks down beforehand) Lapis took her phone out of her pocket and gave a wild smile. "You know you're awesome for even making this possible." She said and Peridot flicked on her flashlight.

"I know." She said smugly, "By the way, tell Amethyst that because she's using the 'internet', I have complete control of her phone." Lapis nodded and swayed a little on her feet, she leaned against the wall. Peridot went to work to get one of the machines running, Lapis plugged her phone into it before she started typing, Peridot couldn't see what exactly she was saying though.

don't_lapiss_me_off: My Peri has control over ur phone.

don't_lapiss_me_off: OH FUCK THAT MEANT TO SAY 'AME' OH MY GOD NO

purple_PUMA: TOO LATE I ALREADY SCREEN-SHOT IT HAHA!

POV SHIFT- Rose Quartz- Music shop

She watched as Amethyst burst into a fit of laughter. She looked down at her phone and smiled, oh she LOVED autocorrect.

purple_PUMA: GUYS GUESS WHAT HAPPENS IN 30 DAY?

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Let me guess, Halloween AND your Birthday?

purple_PUMA: YISSS

Rose watched the two and grinned, Amethyst always got giddy around the topic of her birthday. Rose completely understood, after all, what person _wouldn't_ like it if their favourite holiday fell on their birthday?

She noticed that Amethyst stopped smiling. "Pearl something moved... Give me your flashlight and don't move." The French teen did as she was told, Amethyst shone the light over into a corner. "Freeze asshole!" A teenage boy jumped and gave a panicked yelp. Rose's eyes widened.

"Hello there... Who are you?" She said as she walked over to him quickly. He had long wild brown hair and bright, fearful eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. She held out her hand and helped the teen to his feet.

He smiled sheepishly, "My name is Greg, Greg DeM- U-universe! My last name is Universe." He said shakily, "I was kinda sorta dragged into this by my friends, but I have no clue where they are now.." Rose could hear Pearl voice quip.

"I seriously doubt that's his last name." She said before Amethyst shushed her, the purple haired girl seemed fascinated.

"Hey P... You know this guy?" She asked, Pearl shook her head. "Well... He looks super cool!" She said and Greg let out a nervous chuckle.

"Well Greg, we would love to help you find your friends." Rose said gently and he grinned, "Right guys?" She asked as she looked over her shoulder. Amethyst gave a thumbs up, nodding quickly. Pearl gave a small, reluctant nod.

The french teen sounded a bit bored, "I suppose."

POV SHIFT- Sapphire Hibernis- Mattress shop

Sapphire groaned, "Curse my tiny legs..." She muttered, another voice sounded in the dark nearby.

"Oh I'm exhausted... I've been working all day!" Said Sardonyx as she flopped onto one of the larger beds. Sapphire chuckled as she tried to get up onto a large, springy (and not to mention high up) mattress. Ruby walked over to her, the brown eyed girl was grinning.

"Need any help?" She asked and Sapphire nodded, Ruby moved to her left side, her blind side. Ruby was the only one in the world who could do that without freaking her out. "Look down Sapphy." She said, and the dark skinned girl did just that.

Ruby had cupped her hands, Sapphire slipped off her flats and used Ruby to get up onto the bed. She laughed when Ruby tried to jump up. "I can help you... But I'll need to use your only weakness." The blue haired girl said with a cheeky grin as she held out her hand. Ruby looked up with a fake gasp.

"Tiny hands, oh no!" The two giggled as she pulled her girlfriend up. Ruby got up a little shakily before starting to jump. "Come on Sapphy, it's fun!" She said as quietly as she could manage.

"At home I would get in SO much trouble for this!" Sapphire cheered and jumped along with her. The two bounced around laughing until their legs felt numb and they both fell back, smiling and panting. "I love you." the blue haired girl said as she giggled.

Sardonyx, who had been watching the entire time, laughed softly. "I must say, you two are rather perfect for each other." She said and Sapphire blushed. All of a sudden, a strange voice sounded from the corner of the large store.

"Are you in here?" It asked, it was feminine, a little high, and worried, Ruby grabbed Sapphire and hid in a huge bin of throw pillows. Sardonyx dove under the bed. Nobody moved or made a single sound. The voice called again. "Baby please, you're scaring me."

Sapphire peeked her head out, "Who is-" She was cut off when Ruby clamped a hand over her mouth. But in the split second she had managed to catch a glimpse of the person standing there, highlighted by the sky lights. She was tall, curvy and a bit muscular with olive skin. The girl had long curly black hair that stuck up oddly, she was clearly searching for someone. "She's a teenager... Not a guard." Sapphire whispered, and Ruby nodded, Sapphire shot up again. "Who are you looking for?" She called.

The girl jumped before she saw the couple, "My girlfriend." She told them, her voice was rather strange for someone who would fit in with Jasper and Bismuth. "I can't find her!"

Sardonyx crawled out from her hiding place, "Don't panic." She said as she waltzed over the girl, "We can help you. What does she look like?" Sardonyx asked, she was a bit like Pearl in that way.

"She's small, smaller than me. Oh and she has light green hair!" The teen said happily, it was almost like she had forgotten her worries. "Her name is Aqua, my name is Cat by the way. Cat Syqua."

TIME SKIP- About 20 minutes

"Aqua!" Cat called, and Sapphire had a miniature heart attack, she pulled the black haired girl over to a spot between the walls. Ruby and Sardonyx right behind her.

"Cat, I don't mean to be rude, but you can't do that. If we are to be caught we will all be arrested." She said gently, and the taller girl nodded before mumbling out a tiny apology. "It's okay, I'd do the same thing if Ruby and I got separated." She saw her girlfriend raise an eyebrow. "Or just sing until she found me."

They could hear footsteps headed their way. They all tensed and backed up into the shadows. "B-but... I just heard her voice... I-I swear." Said someone who was VERY unfamiliar. Cat rushed out from the little hiding spot they had all crammed into.

Sapphire poked her head out and watched as Cat scooped up a small, lithe girl into her arms. "Oh baby you had me worried sick." She said and nuzzled the smaller girl, who Sapphire had a very good felling was Aqua.

"S-stop it..." The smaller teen said as she blushed. Sapphire could hear Bismuth chuckle.

"Man, you weren't kiddin', she really does look like us." The rainbow haired teen said and Jasper smiled brightly beside her.

Jasper nudged her best friend, "You know, that's actually kinda cute. I mean, it's pretty obvious they love each other." She said, and the two stared at each other for a moment. Bismuth's smile faded and she turned away before Jasper sighed. She stepped closer to the small hidden group.

She whispered quietly, Sapphire could just barely hear it. "Lucky bastards..."

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli- Game Stop

The two had made it back to the store without a hitch, other then a slight scare with a bird that was chirping quite loudly. Lapis had no clue how birds managed to get in. She was currently sitting against the counter beside Peridot. The little blonde was cycling through the cameras quickly, she had razor sharp focus and the blue haired delinquent had no clue how she managed to do it.

Garnet had left a little while ago, something about 'cleaning the nuclear zone that has consumed my dorm'. Centi had left too, the white haired girl explained that she had many chores to do, and also delivered papers in the morning. Now it was just Lapis and Peridot left.

She looked down at her phone and her eyes widened a little. She glanced over to Peridot. "H-hey..." She yawned, "Hey Peri? What time were you supposed to be home at?" She asked, after a few seconds the Greek stopped flipping through cameras.

Peridot looked up at her, clearly confused. "10:00... Why?" She asked and Lapis sucked in some air through her teeth.

"Yeah, about that... It's 10:30." Said the blue haired girl, and Peridot confused face changed into a look of horror after making a small choking sound.

Peridot snapped her laptop shut after disabling the lock on the front door, the blonde looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I broke curfew!" She cried out sadly and Lapis stood up to put a hand on her shoulder in a poor attempt to comfort her. "I need to get home, now!"

"It's okay, Hoaloha! You don't have to worry, Ruby will drive us home see?" Lapis said to try and comfort her little friend. Peridot nodded.

"Yeah, I'll drive you guys. No need to be afraid. I mean, it's not like it's your fault." Said Ruby as they rushed through the parking lot.

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond- Ruby's car

"It'll be fine Peri, your mom will understand, just tell her your phone died. It's not like you're lying." Said Lapis, but Peridot was shaking in her seat, she looked up at the taller girl.

"Won't your parents be upset? You said you should have been home as well." Said Peridot and a very dark look crossed Lapis' features. She closed her pale blue eyes.

"My dads won't care." Lapis sounded rather grim and Peridot decided not to say anything more about it. She had no intention to upset her best friend, instead she looked at the picture in her hands and smiled at it. She was so glad they had gone to the place so they could print it there instead of Lapis sending it to her. It would be rather hard to explain why she was hanging out with 'The dirty, disrespectful, monster of a girl'.

Ruby parked the little red car right outside of Peridot's house. "Whoa, you didn't tell us you were loaded!" The small girl shouted in awe, and Peridot remembered that they had originally picked her up a little ways away from her house. It was basically a mansion, it was huge with a large garden in the front, there were bushes along the side of the house. But as impressive as it was the yellow house didn't have any lights on outside, and it was dark out. Ruby turned to her friend, "Hey Peridot, do you want me to walk with you? You said you don't like the dark." She asked and Peridot nodded.

POV SHIFT- Ruby Omega- I shouldn't have to say were they are.

She stepped out of the car and groaned, it was only the first day of October and it was cold at night. She watched Peridot try to open the door after stuffing the picture she was holding onto into her bra. Ruby laughed and pried the door open, it needed to be fixed.

"Thank you Ruby." Said Peridot, and the blonde closed the door after waving goodbye to Sapphire and Lapis. She looked nervous and Ruby patted her shoulder.

"It's okay bud. You're lucky we aren't doing this in the winter, you'd be toast." She said, because good lord it was dark out. Trying to walk the long driveway would have been hellish.

The two walked up to the door, it opened immediately and out stepped someone who made Ruby wish she'd stayed in the car. Yella Diamond. The blonde woman looked worried.

"Oh Peridot, I was so worried! It's been a half hour where have you been?!" She cried and hugged her daughter. Peridot looked up at her.

"I'm sorry... My phone died while we were there and we lost track of time." She spoke quietly and Yella nodded.

"I see, well, no matter. Let's get you to bed, you must be so tired..." She said, and maybe Ruby had short-changed her. Maybe her job just stressed her out, being a vice principal for a brand new private school must not be easy. She seemed genuinely worried for her daughter.

Ruby watched as Yella Diamond ushered Peridot inside the huge house. She still couldn't believe the Peridot was rich! The blonde certainly didn't act like it.

The dark skinned girl made her way back to her car, the next stop was near where Lapis lived. The blue haired girl had no car and looked somewhat upset. For some reason she never seemed to want to explain, she didn't like going home.

"Guys, you are never gonna believe who her mom is."

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond- Diamond Residence

She watched as her mother looked out the window with a smile and a wave. While her mothers back was turned, Peridot slipped her phone, her glasses and the picture into the pocket of her jacket, which she had forgone bringing.

After Ruby had driven away, Yella closed the curtain in front of the large window. Peridot was sitting on the floor, rapidly untying her shoes. Yella walked over to her.

"Where the FUCK were you?!" She roared and the small girl jumped, "I TOLD you to be back at 10, sharp! How stupid are you?! I give you the best things I can and THIS is how you repay me?!" Yella screamed and Peridot quivered where she sat.

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I TALK TO YOU, YOU INSOLENT BRAT!" She grabbed Peridot and forced the girl to look her in the eyes. Peridot was shaking, tears starting to form.

Her voice had a bit of a hard time getting out. "I-I'm s-sorry. I-it won't... It won't happen again..." She whimpered, Yella raised her hand causing Peridot to flinch, she backhanded the small girl across the face and Peridot knew that it would leave a mark, just like the other one that Lapis had found. "I'm sorry mom!" She shouted before realizing her mistake. She had back-talked AND made a horrible error.

"What did you just call me?!" The blonde woman screamed at her and Peridot started bawling. Yella shoved her to the ground and gave her a hard kick in the ribs. She let out a cry of pain. "Answer me!" Yella hissed, but Peridot didn't respond, the small girl merely lied on the ground crying.

"Well?!" The tall woman said, Peridot didn't know or even realize she asked something, the pain in her face and side had caused her to lose focus.

Yella stepped over to the Basement door, Peridot cried even harder now, "I... I'm sorry..." She struggled to speak, her tiny body wracked by sobbing and shaking. _'Please no... Anything but that!'_ Her mind cried. Yella opened the door to the basement and grabbed the little blonde by her hair.

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you disobeyed me." Said Yella. She dropped the teen on the first step, Peridot got on her knees and started to beg.

"Please no, I'm so sorry! I'll behave! I'll be good, I promise! Miss Diamond please! Don't hurt me!" She pleaded. Yella shoved her down the rest of the stairs, she looked up at her mother, her vision blurry and hazy from the combination of tears, the bright light from upstairs, the sheer pain, and the fact that her glasses weren't on.

Yella grabbed the door handle. "Now stay down here and think about what you've done." She slammed the door, leaving the injured teen in the pitch black.

Peridot sniffled and tried to wipe her face, she wasn't to make a sound down here, that would extend her time. Yella could beat her black and blue but it wouldn't change how she felt about this place... Being down here made her brain itch and scream. It was worse than anything else Yella could do to her, there was a reason she was scared of the dark... It was where her brain liked to torment her.

She slowly made her way through the dark over to the mattress in the corner of the room. She sat against the wall and pulled her knees up, she rested her arms on them before putting her head down. There was the sound of small footsteps heading towards her.

Peridot instinctively looked up, "Here kitty..." Peridot whispered, her voice still quivering. She felt her cat, Percy, start to rub his head on her hip. She picked up the dark brown cat gently as she could as not to hurt him. She held him close to her chest and cuddled him.

"Good boy... Good boy..." She whispered as she stroked his fur softly, trying ignore the pain that flooded through her.

She was terrified down here. She couldn't see and it reeked, the only sounds were her cat or the muffled voices from upstairs. She knew she would be stuck down here for the entire weekend. Peridot needed to stay calm, she began to quietly recite the words she had been taught and held to for years, the rules she was forced to live by.

"Keep your grades up. Absolutely no junk food. Do exactly as I tell you. Don't call me mother unless we're at a meeting. No breaking curfew. Talking back is 1 demerit, grades slipping is 1 demerit, junk food is half a demerit, being late is 3 demerits. 3 demerits gets the Basement, and the Basement means no dinner or breakfast." She said, "I know."

She held Percy closer, a new wave of tears spilling over. She put her hand on her beloved cat's back to stop them from falling on him.

"I know..."

 _ **AN: Tell me, honestly, how you feel right now.**_


	5. Crying While Hugging

_**AN: As of this episode (because that's what I wanna call these) the date is October 4th. This is a bit**_ __ _ **more of a**_ __ _ **Malachite and Jasper centric chapter by the way. This story also now has an official ask**_ __ _ **blog! www .tumblr blog/ask-the-chatroom-gems**_

 _ **Just type it in without the spaces of course!**_

 _ **If you can't get the link to work just go on tumblr and search for ask-the-chatroom-gems, you can ask me or the characters anything you want! Remember to comment if you like the chapter!**_

 _La_Vie_Ein_Rose added Mr-Universe to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 5:31 am._

purple_PUMA: welcome to the party bro

Mr-Universe: wwhasd?

La_Vie_En_Rose: Good morning!

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Okay well since we're adding them

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: OH MY GOD HER USERNAME I'M SCREAMING!

I_am_Malachite: What?

Sink-the-DINK: I gotta know, what is it

 _Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff added I-am-the-Ocean's-gay-waves to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 5:35 am._

Sink-the-DINK: oh my fucking god! I'd SO use that if I wasn't ace!

I-am-the-Ocean's-gay-waves: oh trust me I didn't pick it. And what even IS this?

Mr-Universe: whyyyy at 5:30?

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Why not? And this is a Chatroom that our dear friend Bismuth created, so that we could be FRIENDS.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Oops, sorry. I must have turned on the caps lock by accident.

purple_PUMA: jeez somebody's salty

Known_to_Smash: Oh, speaking of friends, I have someone!

 _Known_to_Smash added HappyCat to the group We are The Crystal Gems at 5:37 am_

HappyCat: Oooh! This is cool! Aqua just showed me right before I got added, thank you Sardonyx

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: You two live together?

I-am-the-Ocean's-gay-waves: yea... well, we live at her aunts.

Mr-Universe: wait a minute... Are you guys ALL named after rocks?

La_Vie_En_Rose: guys. We're named after ROCKS. OH MY GOD

Hopal_for_Opal: Rose... Why do you become Bumblr at 5 in the morning?

Made_of_LOVE: We have been asking that since we knew what Bumblr was. Nobody knows...

Sink-the-DINK: so guys, come to my dorm after school, I have something to show you.

Mr-Universe: can I come? Please? I think you guys are super cool except the whole 'waking me up at ungodly hours' thing

Sink-the-DINK: Aw, sure dude! Anyone can come see!

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Screw you guys, Sapphire and I are trying to sleep!

purple_PUMA: I have to ask, why did you guys leave the mall early?

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: We had to drive Peri and Lapis to their homes, well, to Peridot's mansion and the side of the road for Lapis. She lives in a foresty kinda place, I think it's a cabin? Yeah I think she said cabin.

Known_to_Smash: Speaking of which... Where are they? We haven't heard from Peridot at all this weekend, and only from Lapis when she's on break at work!

I_am_Malachite: Lapis doesn't have internet at her place. She has to use the schools.

purple_PUMA: for some reason Peri sometimes just plays on her laptop for like the entire weekend. She won't talk to anyone, hell she even forgets to really eat or sleep. to be honest I think she's got anxiety, she's always paranoid lookin

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: So, Lapis doesn't have internet? That explains why she's always downloading videos, and why she's constantly doing things. I mean, Art Club, Baseball Team and a job?! Someone's obviously trying to keep busy.

Hopal_for_Opal: Wait, Peridot lives in a mansion?! What?

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: oh yeah, and guess who her MOM is

Sink-the-DINK: Who is it?

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Yella. Diamond. And no I'm not kidding.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: You're joking right? She's the brat's mother?

purple_PUMA: jesus i've known her for months and she hasn't said a damn thing

I_am_Malachite: Would you?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: sis why are you like this at like 5 in the morning?

I_am_Malachite: i've been awake for 48 hours. This is nothing.

Known_to_Smash: Oh dear

Mr-Universe: do any of you sleep?

Sink-the-DINK: not really.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!

I_am_Malachite: did you really have to shout that? I could hear you from the basement.

La_Vie_En_Rose: Um, Malachite? Do you mind if I ask what you're doing in your basement at 5 in the morning?

I_am_Malachite: I was doing gymnastics. Then you people started messaging each other, now I'm talking with you.

HappyCat: You can do gymnastics? Cool!

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Yep, been doing it since she was... What? 14?

I_am_Malachite: around that.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: hey guys? PLEASE shut up now.

Icey_U: Too late, I'm up.

TIME SKIP- 8:30

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli- School Cafeteria

She was sitting in the cafeteria with Amethyst and Jasper. A nice balance of people she liked and hated. The two were chatting quietly as she pulled her hood off, she folded her arms and rested her head, she wanted to go back home and sleep. The only thing keeping her awake was the scent of eggs and bacon from the paper plate in front of Jasper. The white haired teen had ordered breakfast from the cafeteria.

She was still pretty proud of herself for managing to make it into a car without panicking (and then again! AT NIGHT!) on Friday, sure she had been dead tired to the point where she could barely speak at one point, and yes, she had been not so subtly clinging to the seat-belt, but Ruby was by far the best driver she had ever met. Although once she had walked into her house she had thrown up and started shaking for hours. (not to mention the nightmares she had over the weekend had drained her along with work)

"Hey ass." Wow Jasper, very classy. "Where's the nerd?" She said and after flipping her off, Lapis answered.

"I don't know, not like I have her fucking micro-chipped." She snarked, her voice having gone deadpan. "I can't message you guys at home, even if her and I wanted to talk we couldn't." She wasn't in the mood to deal with the white haired girl.

"Jesus, what's your issue?" Amethyst asked her, Lapis put her head down, she hated talking to people in the morning. "Kay whatever. Y'know... You can get mean when Peri isn't around."

Despite not wanting to she raised her head and muttered, "I'm not 'mean' Amethyst... I'm exhausted." She could barely sleep last night, all she could think about was Peridot's terrified face... The poor thing had been so scared about getting home late, Lapis hoped that she hadn't been grounded, if Yella was strict with students how would she treat her children? Then again, Limone was a spoiled brat...

"Hey! P-dot!" She heard Amethyst yell, she looked over in the direction the purple haired teen was pointing, and there she was looking completely spent was Peridot. The blonde looked tired and miserable. Lapis called her over and she seemed to perk up a little, the Greek teen walked over to them quickly.

"Hi Hoaloha, you feeling okay?" She asked, and the girl responded after a few seconds.

"I'm tired..." She murmured and Lapis nodded. She felt the same way, she held her arms out and the pale girl hugged her tightly. She pulled Peridot onto the bench to sit with her. But the second Lapis' arm pushed against her side she yelped in pain. Lapis let go immediately and Peridot's blue-green eyes filled with guilt. "Sorry Lapis."

The blue haired teen shook her head, "You don't have to be sorry, I forget how strong I am sometimes." Peridot nodded slowly and hugged her again, she buried her face into Lapis' shoulder. She patted her best friend's back gently, sometimes the small girl just wanted to be embraced by somebody. Lapis didn't understand why, but she never asked.

Amethyst grinned, "Up all weekend playing video games again Perito?" The purple haired teen asked, Peridot nodded. Amethyst chuckled before Peridot's stomach gave a loud growl. "Hungry buddy?" She asked, Jasper slid her plate of food over.

Peridot looked at it and shook her head, she looked guilty. "Seriously, I'm not gonna eat anymore, so just take it. No use for food to just go to waste right?" The buff teenager asked with a raised eyebrow and after a few moments the tiny girl took a small, hesitant bite. Her blue-green eyes lit up behind her yellow-tinted lenses and she started wolfing the food down. Jasper laughed. "Easy squirt, you're acting like you're never going to see food again. What, you miss breakfast or something?" She asked, after Peridot finished and wiped her mouth off she answered.

"I did not sleep very well over the weekend, I was tired this morning and was moving too slowly. I had to leave the house before I was able to eat." The Greek teen explained, Jasper nodded with a small sigh.

"So you and Malachite are kinda in the same boat I guess." Said Jasper. Lapis tilted her head. What was wrong with Malachite? "She stayed up all weekend too." Lapis sighed, the white haired girl had an awful track record with quite a few things, sleeping was one of them, doing things that gave her a single bad experience was another, like taking medicine.

"Again? Seriously?" She asked and though Jasper glared at her a little, she nodded. "Give her something?" Lapis suggested, but the buff girl shook her head.

"Too stubborn, won't take anything." The white haired teen groaned and stood up. "I have to go to class, I'll see you guys later. Not like I have much choice anymore though do I?" She said with a quirked smile, most of the teenagers had accepted the fact that they weren't getting out of being in the group.

Amethyst snickered. "Say hi to Bismuth for me!" She called out teasingly, and Jasper flipped her off. "Alright well, I gotta go do something. Bye guys!" Peridot gave a tiny wave to her as she leaned on Lapis' shoulder. The blue haired teen noticed that she was taking slow, somewhat shaky breaths as she gently patted the table with one of her hands. Peridot had told her that her older sister was bullying her at home, but Lapis had the feeling that somebody else was scaring her... If the little blonde was being bullied by someone at school she would tear them to shreds.

POV SHIFT- Amethyst Prather- Physics room

Though she hated being in this room (she didn't belong in here, she clearly wasn't smart enough for it) she certainly didn't mind where she was seated. Right on top of a beautiful French girl's desk.

Said beautiful French girl was squawking at her. "Amethyst get off my desk! Why do you keep doing this?" Pearl asked, her voice not quite angry, but clearly very annoyed. "And why is this slowly becoming a routine thing?! Are you even listening to me?" She kept going on like that for a few more moments before finally giving in.

Amethyst watched as the taller girl sighed and pulled out her book, she liked to read before class. The purple haired teen just sat and watched her, she wished Pearl knew how adorable she looked when she was doing something she loved. It was true, Amethyst had been in love with her ever since the two had met in kindergarten. But that story wasn't as happy as she wanted it to be...

Pearl was a foster child, she had been since age 7, when her mother had shown up to work high. The French girl had always requested to stay in the city, and protective services had always complied. Pearl had been through quite a few families now (4?) and every time she had to leave one she always went to either Rose, Bismuth, Garnet or Amethyst herself. Amethyst's heart cracked every single time she came to her. It meant that there would be hours of holding the peach haired teen close as she sobbed, and hearing Pearl ask over and over why she couldn't just be normal.

She wanted to tell her that she could never be normal, no angel could.

But the purple haired girl knew another thing, Pearl could never love her back... While she had a massive crush on the French teen, Pearl was in love with Rose...

Amethyst had done whatever she could to try and impress her crush, she had taken French class this semester, and she was going to be in Pearl's gym class next semester.

Maybe she could try to say how she felt now, there weren't many kids around, and none that were even listening to the two teens. Amethyst took a deep breath and turned to her crush. "H-hey P...?" She said, mentally kicking herself when she stuttered.

The beautiful teen looked up from her book, "Yes Amethyst? Is something wrong?" She asked, her pale blue eyes glittering in the classroom ceiling lights.

"I... I have to go. Bye." The Hispanic girl said and quickly scrambled off of the desk and out of the room, leaving a very confused Pearl behind her.

TIME SKIP- Last period of the day

POV SHIFT- Jade Nephrite- Photography classroom

The Indian girl was sitting in the back of her class, she was flipping through the pictures she had taken on her phone today. One was of Sugilite sitting with Sardonyx and Opal, the three were amazing together. The next was of Garnet reading peacefully in the cafeteria at lunch. She liked the tall girl, she was smart and helped Jade study.

The white haired girl gave a sad smile as she thought of the sound of her name. Foreign to her now, but Garnet had slipped the other day and had called her by her name. The word Jade sounded a little funny with a British accent.

Her teacher kept talking, he said the word 'project' and Jade's head shot up. He was her photography teacher, she saw Opal perk up beside her too. "Now Class," He addressed them and pointed up at the tarp on the wall, the projector was showing them the class project checklist.

Jade's eyes strained to see, her vision was blurry and she'd forgotten to take her eye-drops to school. She played with her necklace for a bit until she heard her teacher say the words, "You will be required to take pictures of people close to you, such as your parents or siblings." He explained, and some of the teens groaned.

Opal seemed happy though, "I hope new foster siblings count, I can take Pearl's picture!" She said in an excited whisper. But Jade felt sick to her stomach. All at once they returned, the screaming, the flames, two little girls calling her name... The last words they'd ever speak...

She didn't like it when anyone said her name. It was the last thing she'd heard her little twin siblings say as they burned to death in that factory...

The Australian teen tried desperately to hold herself together as she held up a small piece of paper to the teacher asking to be excused. He nodded, and she tried not to sprint out of the room. Once she was out however Jade kept running until she found the familiar door of the girls washroom.

She rushed into a stall, cupping a hand over her mouth to prevent her sobbing from getting too loud. Jade locked the door quickly and sat down on the back of a toilet rocking herself a little too quickly and wiping rapidly at her blurry green eyes. Her only hope was that her nobody would find her...

TIME SKIP- About 30 minutes after school has ended

Jade slowly crept out of the bathroom, trembling a little and VERY much in need of some water. She sniffled as she shakily made her way down the halls...

It only took a good 15 minutes for her to break down as she leaned against a wall. The Indian teen curled up into a tight ball as she sat down. Her sobs picked up again, not as loudly this time though, as the white haired teen was able to pick up the sound of high heels coming towards her from behind.

Jade looked up and gasped in fear, one of the vice principals, Azura Diamond was standing in front of her, watching her with a slight disinterest. That is, until she saw the tears sliding down Jade's cheeks. "Miss Nephrite…" Her voice was soft, almost a whisper if not for the underlying power. "Are you okay?" The woman's hair was a wispy bluish white, and spilled over her shoulders, curling to create a ring around her chest. Azura had haunting pale eyes and a long dark blue cloak that fluttered ever so slightly as she walked coupled with an icy blue blouse and pencil skirt. Everyone in the school thought she looked somewhat like a ghost.

Jade shook her head, and the vice principal knelt down near her. "Is this about… Your sisters?" Azura asked softly, everyone in the city knew about the Incident.

Jade nodded, and the tall woman hugged her gently. The white haired teen sniffled a bit. "Oh Nephrite... I'm so sorry. I know it hurts, losing someone you care about... Do you need anything?" She asked, Jade shook her head and after a few moments... Hugged back.

She could just barely hear Azura say in a soft, unsettled voice, "I've lost people too..."

TIME SKIP- 5:36 pm

POV SHIFT- Jasper Redimido

She sat on the dining room table, Biggs and Crazy Lace looking up at her, they were hungry. Jasper would give them their dinner soon, but first... She wanted to talk to her father, her only parent. She held her cellphone to her ear as it rang. The only other noise was her dogs whining softly on occasion.

"Come on dad, please pick up..." She whispered to no on in particular. Malachite wasn't home, her half-sister was at the mall, Jasper didn't know what she was doing there, but the white haired girl was happy to know her younger sister was finally getting out of the house again.

Jasper and Malachite's father was rarely home, even in childhood he wasn't around for long unless something bad had happened to either of the two sisters. Jasper, despite being only a year older than her sister, practically had to raise her. From the time they had been introduced to each other the older teen had wanted to protect her little sister.

Her father was at work, like always, but he was allowed small breaks on occasion. He had to work non-stop to pay off the debt he had put the family in, as things like food (for people AND two huge dogs), clothing and medicine had drained the money they had.

But that hadn't been all. While Jasper had been given a letter of invitation to Diamond Academy, Malachite had not. The younger of the two had been so distressed at the thought of the two of them having to go to separate schools that their father had taken out a loan to allow Malachite to go too...

She was jolted out of her thoughts when the ringing stopped. "What is it Jasper?" Her father asked, his tone tired, unimpressed.

She tried not to smile like an idiot about the fact that he had actually picked up this time. "H-hey dad. Just uh... Called to see how you were doing-"

"I'm working Jasper you know this! You can't just call whenever you feel like it!" His voice was now a bit angry and the buff teen sighed.

"Look I know it's just... I miss you, and I thought maybe you wanted to know how Malachite's doing. I think she's making a few friends, there are some girls we hang out with that she spends time with, but I'm kind of scared she'll shut down again..." Said Jasper, and her father went silent for a moment.

She could hear a small groan, "Jasper, I'm sorry but I don't have time for this, I have to go now. Bye." Jasper nodded despite knowing he couldn't see her, and spoke quickly.

"Goodbye dad, I love y-"

Click.

POV SHIFT- Smoky Quartz

The dark haired teen and their best friend/cousin sat together on the soft black couch of their dorm. The two were playing video games waiting for their friends to show up. Rainbow stretched out and layed down.

Smoky looked at her, amusement in their warm brown eyes. "Tired?" The Italian asked. Rainbow shook her head and gave them a soft kick in the back.

"No you dork. I'm trying to get comfortable, you took my spot." She said with a tiny smile. Smoky stuck their tongue out at her.

The two sat there until there was a small knock at the door. "We're here! Show us the thing!" Amethyst shouted, her voice filled with excitement. Smoky opened up the door and their eyes widened.

Rose, their cousin, was standing there with (deep breath now), Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Peridot, Sardonyx, Sugilite, Opal, Greg, Aqua and Cat. "Rainbow... We gotta full house." Said Smoky, and Rainbow rushed over to look.

She smiled brightly and squealed, "Hey guys! We have something super cute to show you!" The younger teen said, and showed them all inside.

The dorm was well lit, with quite a few couches and a large TV. Though the grey walls looked dull it was much better than the sterile white halls of the school. Light poured in like water through the window, which was opened ever so slightly to cool the place down. It was home and Smoky loved it.

They turned to their friends, "Okay, he's kinda shy, so you guys gotta sit down." The curly haired teen explained as they played with the bit of hair that just couldn't seem to stay behind their ear.

After everyone sat down Smoky hurried into their bedroom, smiling when they pulled the surprise out. Holding it in their chubby hands the tall teen walked slowly into the main room. Rose gasped in shock and Peridot cooed, "It's so cute!" The tiny blonde tried her best to keep her voice down.

Greg stared in an odd mix of horror and awe, "You STOLE a kitten?!" He asked, and Smoky nodded.

They heard Aqua snicker, "Hey Cat, look, another cat." The green haired girl was given a playful shove by her much taller girlfriend. "You were thinking it too!"

Cat nodded, "Well, yeah. But it's different when I think it." She looked at Smoky, "So what did you name it?" She asked and Smoky smiled at her.

"His name is Yo-yo." They said and Lapis, their locker partner, snorted.

The blue haired girl was giggling, "Seriously? Yo-yo? Dude you're so fuckin' cheesy!" She said and they smiled.

Rose however, was a bit less than impressed. "How much did he cost?" She asked, looking a bit worried.

From beside Smoky, Rainbow spoke up, "He was super new." The gold/purple haired girl explained. "They didn't have a price on him yet." The dancer told her, but that didn't justify it in Rose's mind.

"Yes well that doesn't-" Rose began, but Pearl interrupted her, the skinny girl's face was unreadable.

"Now, this is just in MY opinion, but that kitten looks rather small. Not many want a runt so... Smoky COULD have saved its life..." She said, blushing from everyone staring at her, "Just saying."

Sugilite was sitting with her girlfriends, Opal and Sardonyx, the indigo haired teen gave a crooked smile, "The bird has a point y'know." She said, and Pearl gave her a very irritated look. Smoky could hear her mutter under her breath.

"I'm not a bird..."

Beside her, Amethyst nodded, "Yeah, Pearl's probably right, and I mean c'mon, we all know Smoky's awesome with animals!" She said and went up to pet the tiny grey kitten, who batted at her fingers with a fuzzy little paw. Amethyst smiled and scratched behind Yo-yo's ears. "Hey there little dude, name's Amethyst."

From the armrest of one of the chairs there was a small click. Centi had taken a picture of Amethyst playing with the kitten. She was always taking pictures of the group. Everyone thought it was for her being in the newspaper club, or that she was part of a photography class, but why would she take pictures of this?

TIME SKIP- 7:30 pm.

Known_to_Smash: Did you guys hear about what the college students are doing?

don't_lapiss_me_off: who gives a shit about college students?

PERIDOT5XG: I KNOW RIGHT? OBVIOUSLY WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.

don't_lapiss_me_off: that's... not what I meant Peri

Known_to_Smash: ANYWAY as I was saying. The collage students are having a huge bonfire tonight!

purple_PUMA: dude that sounds awesome

Hopal_for_Opal: It sucks that they won't let us in though...

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: yeah I heard about that, they only let 'VIP' people in or something

don't_lapiss_me_off: I heard Alexandrite's going

Centipeetle: she is, I heard her mumble something about a bonfire earlier today

Hopal_for_Opal: oh I'm SO jealous!

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Lapis please get back to work, Barb is looking for our only reliable waitress.

don't_lapiss_me_off: I still have like 3 minutes left of break so bite me

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Would you like me to tell her that?

don't_lapiss_me_off: no, just tell Barb my break isn't over yet please

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Okay.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: so was my Pearl impression good?

purple_PUMA: AMETHYST PRATHER WHERE ARE YOU GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: damn P yours is lacking

HappyCat: Oh I just got it! Amethyst you'd better hope she doesn't find you.

Made_of_LOVE: and just think. I live with all of this, all day everyday.

PERIDOT5XG: I DON'T GET IT.

don't_lapiss_me_off: Don't worry Per-bear I'll explain later.

PERIDOT5XG: THANK YOU!

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: look guys I know I can be an asshole sometimes

don't_lapiss_me_off: understatement

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: I really need help. Malachite's missing I can't find her she won't pick up her phone I'm scared help me please she's my baby sister

don't_lapiss_me_off: Okay, don't panic. Where was the last place you saw Mallie, what was the last thing she said to you? Do you have any idea of where she may be?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: in the parking lot at school, she said she was going to the mall and that she'd be home by 6:30. I have no clue where she could be

Made_of_LOVE: does she have any friends? They could be keeping her?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: no she's a loner. She hates people and I JUST found out she's off her meds again

don't_lapiss_me_off: Are you fucking kidding me?

Mr-Universe: Meds? Is something wrong?

I-am-the-Ocean's-gay-waves: is she sick?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: she has anxiety and bipolar disorder that's why she didn't show up to school for the first week that's why she's so aggressive and irritable. Please help me I've almost lost her once I can't do this again

I-am-the-Ocean's-gay-waves: Well the first thing to do is think about how she's been lately, is she more aggressive now, more willing to pick a fight with someone? I heard she got into a fight with Alex.

don't_lapiss_me_off: I noticed when I was tutoring her that she seemed more distant. When I brought up the mall she got quiet, then seemed angry.

keepittogether: I found her, I'm at the bonfire. She's been stalking me for hours.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: OH THANK GOD

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: I'M GOING TO KILL HER.

purple_PUMA: oh so NOW Alexandrite wants to talk to us

keepittogether: quiet Amethyst.

POV SHIFT- Alex Andrite- The Beach

She watched as the tall girl walked towards her, the scowl on her face much different than the almost soft look she had back at the mall in that book store, Alexandrite wondered just how long the beautiful teen had been refusing to take her medication.

"I've been waiting for this." Said Malachite, a look of almost hatred making the teal haired girl take a step back, but she wasn't scared of this girl. Never had been. "What's the matter? Chicken?"

Alexandrite spoke calmly to her, "What do you want Malachite?" She asked, and the white haired teen rolled her forest green eyes as if Alex had asked what colour the sky was.

"Revenge, that last fight wasn't fair." She huffed, and the taller of the two simply sighed, of course. "Don't give me that fucking look, you only beat me because you use cheap tricks!" She snapped, and moved a bit closer as her soft white hair gently moved in the wind, a bit cold now that Alexandrite was away from the fire.

"Look, I'm sorry. But we don't have to fight-" She was quickly cut off when the (slightly) shorter girl's fist connected with her jaw. She took a few steps back. "I don't want to fight you!" Alexandrite shouted at her despite the pain, but Malachite had an almost scary smile on her face.

"Oh believe me I know. I wouldn't want to fight me either."

Alexandrite dodged a punch and returned it with a sharp kick to the younger girl's left hip, she gave a small yelp before getting in close to elbow the teal haired teen in the stomach. Malachite shoved her down with a fist to the small of her back.

Malachite laughed a bit when Alexandrite crumpled to the ground, the wind knocked out of her as she gasped a bit. "What's the matter? Big tough girl can't handle it?" The white haired girl's voice was smug as she kicked the multiracial girl in the side.

Alexandrite wheezed as she flipped over onto her back. "W-why..." She tried to say something, but Malachite gave another kick to her side, lower this time, and closer to her stomach. Now she was pissed.

This girl had wanted a fight. She wasn't going to like what she was going to get.

The older girl lashed out with a long powerful leg, kicking straight into Malachite's ankle and taking her foot out from underneath her. She fell to the ground and glared at the teal haired teen. "Fuck off!" She snarled, but Alexandrite had already pounced on her, she forced the shorter girl onto her front and pinned her down by sitting on her back. Malachite struggled under her, trying to get up. "Why can't I win?!" She screeched, "Just once!"

After a few moments she made a soft whimpering noise and stopped struggling, for a second Alex faltered, what if she had hurt the younger girl? But it didn't matter, for the heartbeat long moment she had hesitated Malachite had bucked her off and tried her hardest to keep her from getting the upper hand again. "What is this?!" The white haired teen roared, "You think you can pin me down?! NOBODY can pin me down! Not anymore!" The girl was furious, and Alexandrite didn't know how much longer she could hold out against her flurry of attacks, her ribs ached from being hit and her sunglasses had cracked, she'd need to take them off when she got home lest they break right in her face.

With a huge shove she managed to get the younger teen back down on the sand of the beach. Her knees pined her arms to her sides. She had both hands near Malachite's collarbone. When she started to writhe around one of Alexandrite's hands slipped and pushed down on her throat by accident. She took it off immediately but the Malachite giggled, "Oh come on Alex!" She whined with a flirting undertone, "At least take me out to dinner first before you try to choke me, that's naughty."

Okay. That was weird. But the white haired girl laughed at Alexandrite's shocked (scared) expression. The teal haired girl pulled herself together. "Why are you off your medication?" She asked, and Malachite stared up at her.

"Bite me~"

"Would you stop that!" Alexandrite was thankful it was dark, it would hide her blush.

Seeing that her somewhat flirty comments weren't working anymore Malachite groaned, "That shit made me sick. Besides, I just wanted to have fun for once without worry." She huffed, and Alexandrite finally threw caution to the wind.

She took off her sunglasses, revealing her piercing grey, almost white irises. "Was it fun giving your sister a panic attack?" Malachite looked at her and gasped, Alexandrite could see guilt growing in the shorter girl. But she could also see that Malachite was trying to hide the guilt she felt.

"Y-your eyes..." Was she trying to change the subject?

Alexandrite tried her hardest to block out the memories of kids bullying her for her unique eye colour. "Why didn't you tell her? You know that would have scared the shit out of her. Were you not thinking?" Malachite's beautiful green eyes filled with shame.

"N-no..." She said softly, "I wasn't... I didn't want to hurt her..."

The older of the two nodded, she had read the chat. She knew why Malachite was on medication. "Hey, it's okay. But you need to go home, and you NEED to tell someone if your medication is making you sick. It could just be too strong for you." She told the shorter girl who nodded with a somber look.

"I wanna go home..." She whispered softly. Alexandrite got off of her and rose to her feet, she held out a hand to the shorter girl. For a split second she thought the Malachite would smack it away like she had back when they had first met, but she didn't. She took it and allowed Alex to pull her up.

"I'll drive you, okay?" Asked the multiracial girl, Malachite nodded and the two walked to Alexandrite's car in silence.

It had been a quiet drive to the white haired girl's house, aside from the occasional "Turn left here." Alexandrite couldn't decide if she liked the quiet or not.

Jasper was waiting on the front porch, her arms crossed over her chest. Even in the dark the patches of white on her skin were clearly visible. The teal haired teen noticed that the patches on her arms looked distinctly like Malachite's tattoos. Had the younger girl gotten them for her sister?

"H-hey Alexandrite?" Said Malachite. "I know this sounds stupid but... I'm kinda scared what she'll say. Walk with me?" Asked the girl in an oddly meek voice. Alex guessed Jasper was the 'mother' of the house.

She nodded, "Of course." The two tall teens started walk up the driveway, the second she caught a glance at Jasper she had a feeling she knew what was going to happen. She was expecting tears and a hug from the buff girl to her younger sister.

What Alexandrite hadn't been expecting was the hug. Malachite's lean arms wrapped gently around her waist. "I'm sorry..." She whispered, and the taller girl's face flushed a warm pink. "For everything."

Alexandrite had nodded and numbly walked back to her car, she knew she had said to stay with her, but immediately after Malachite had pulled away she had been told that she could go. That it was fine.

But it wasn't fine. Because the tall teen knew that from that moment on she would be seeing a certain beautiful white haired girl walking in her dreams. The girl whose hair matched her eyes.

POV SHIFT- Malachite Tossico

Jasper had held her and sobbed quietly as the older of the two held Malachite close. "Don't ever fucking do that Mala I thought I lost you... I've almost lost you once..." Malachite nodded and cried into her big sister's shirt.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." She repeated over and over. Jasper patted her back gently.

The shorter girl shook her head, "God you scared the shit out of me... I messaged you and you weren't answering, just like last time..." She sniffed as Malachite realized her phone had been left on silent. She pulled it out and looked at the text messages.

Jasper: Malachite you're late.

That one had been sent at 6:45

Jasper: Hello? Where are you?

7:01

Jasper: Mala this isn't funny

7:15

Jasper: mala please answer me

7:18

Jasper: please say something I'm scared

7:25

Jasper: sis please answer

7:29

A fresh wave of tears spilled over her eyes, making everything even more blurry then normal. She tightened her hug and whimpered softly. "Can I please go to bed?" She asked.

Jasper nodded. "I love you sis. I hope you know that."

"I love you too."

TIME CHANGE- A tiny apartment in Empire City 14 years ago...

A small toddler sat on a rug playing with blocks, Malachite was only two years old, weak sunlight came in through the window, her mommy liked the sun.

When Malachite grew up she wanted to be just like her mommy, she was tall and pretty. "Mallie, come here sweetie." Her mommy called to her from the couch before coughing again.

Without stumbling the tiny girl stood up on her chubby little legs and walked over to her, "Mommy okay?" She asked, and received a smile as she was picked up and snuggled.

Long fingers combed through her soft brown hair. "Mama's okay..." Her mommy gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. "Mama needs to go to that big place again, okay? Just for the night." Malachite looked up at her.

"Why? You not feeling good again?" Asked the toddler, her mommy shook her head. Malachite's lip puffed out a bit, she hated it when her mommy had to go to the big place. The doctors there were scary. They said her mommy was sick, that she was always sick. But Malachite couldn't say what word the doctors had said.

Nuu-mon-ea?

After a little while of coughing her mommy started to talk again, "Sorry sweetie, Mama needs to." She stroked Malachite's hair. "I need to leave you hear with the lady next door. You'll be okay. You're my big tough girl." Everyone said that Malachite would be just like her mommy one day, her mommy didn't like it when they said that, she said Malachite would be better. The brown haired toddler didn't know what that meant.

"You gonna come back?" Malachite asked and her mommy laughed. She hugged Malachite as tight as she could.

"I'll never leave you Mallie. Mama loves you." She said and held the little girl close to her chest as her breathing went funny for a second. "Mama loves you so much Mallie..."

"I love you too mommy."

It had been two days and her mommy hadn't come back.

The lady next door didn't like Malachite. She would leave food out for the toddler to eat but she wouldn't play with her. She wanted her mommy to come home.

The toddler walked around her home. "Mommy?" She called, thinking that maybe they were just playing hide and seek again. "Mommy?!" She didn't want to play this game anymore, she had been walking around her home for two days and she still couldn't find her mommy.

Malachite had been told a special story sometimes. That she had someone who was just like her mommy. A daddy, and that he was out there with a little girl just like her. Her name was Jasper.

But he had somebody called a 'wife'. He was supposed to stay with the 'wife', and her mommy and daddy weren't supposed to be together. But if something bad happened he promised he would take care of Malachite.

The little girl was still looking, her mommy was a good hider. On the third day a man came into her home with a three year old girl. She looked like Malachite but her skin had white patches on it. She thought they looked nice.

The chubby toddler went up to the new little girl. There were tears running down Malachite's face. "Where's my mommy?" She asked, she didn't want to be alone anymore. The girl hugged her and the man behind the three year old bent down to look at her. He looked a bit like her too.

"I'm your daddy, and this is your big sister Jasper." He told her, her voice sounded like it was shaking. She looked up at him, "Sweetie I... Your mommy isn't coming home..."

"Why not?"

He looked sad, he picked up the two year old, leaving Jasper to gaze up at them. "Your mommy's in a better place now. She's watching over you Malachite."

"But I want to see mommy..."

Her daddy was starting to cry too.

"I know..."


	6. Diamond Chapter 1

_**This chapter takes place approximately 33 years before the events of the very first chapter. The Diamond Chapters will be a glance into the past, showing what happened to Blanche, Yella, Azura, and Rosa before everything happened. This is just childhood, so it shouldn't be very long. Tell me if you liked it!**_

Blanche, 7 years old, pulled a red and blue wagon down the street. Her little sister Rosa sat inside humming softly. Beside her were her other younger sisters, the twins, Yella and Azura. The two five year old girls held onto Rosa's hands as Blanche kept pulling. Yella was the fist to speak, "Where are we going again? It's hot out." She said with an air of complaint.

Blanche didn't even need to turn around to look at the blonde, "We're getting that cat in the woods. Rosa wanted to give it a home, remember?" She said and Azura added.

"That's why we have the wagon, I just hope dad will let us..." She murmured, Blanche nodded. Their father had changed since Rosa was born and their mother passed away. He drank a lot and yelled a lot, and there were many times in the night when Azura, shaking like a leaf, would crawl into her bed and try to sleep. Blanche never said anything, what was there to say that two five year old's and a three year old would understand?

The albino girl was said to be very smart for her age, she could read words that other kids her age couldn't. She was also said to be startlingly mature. But that came from having to raise her sisters. She loved them with all her heart.

"Thank you guys so much!" Said Rosa from inside the wagon, her fluffy dark brown hair was thick as she hated it when people wanted to try and cut it. It curled around her ears and spiked up oddly. She had a pale pink dress that she had picked out herself, and Blanche had even taught her how to tighten the sash. "I love kitties!"

She could hear Yella laugh softly beside her. "We know, this is your birthday present by the way." The blonde said to her, and the little girl cheered.

"Guys?" Asked Azura as she ran her fingers through her pale brown hair nervously, "What if the cat doesn't like us?" She was always mousy, always a bit somber too.

Blanche shook her head, "It'll be fine Azura. I could get near the cat the other day, we just need to bring him home now. Everything is okay." She reassured her younger sister. Rosa gasped as they entered the woods. Birds were chirping fro the treetops, bright green leaves sheltered the girls from the hot June sunshine. A small creek ran through the woods, a grey and white cat was drinking from the stream, its soft fur ruffled by the occasional gentle breeze.

"I think I see him!" She whispered, and Yella groaned a bit, the young blonde walked a bit ahead of them.

She looked unhappy. "Why are we even doing this? We have a ton of money we don't NEED to grab a cat from the woods!" She hissed and Rosa spoke again after climbing out of the wagon with Blanche's help.

"He needs a home sis. And if we use daddy's money he could find out. I don't think the people at the pet store would let us buy a kitty 'cause we're small." She said, and Blanche nodded.

"This is more fun anyway."

Yella rolled her eyes. "Fun. Sure." She muttered, but the tiny brunette went up to give her a hug. The blonde softened and hugged her back. "Happy birthday Rosa, I know it was a while ago, but it was a good day." She gave a soft smile.

"Thank you!"

Azura crept over by the stream holing a small bag of cat treats. "Here kitty, come on." She said softly and put a few treats on the ground. A large cat walked over and licked up the treats greedily. The young girl's pale blue eyes lit up.

Blanche and Yella carried over the crate and opened the door, Azura tossed a few treats inside and the cat ran in to eat them. Blanche shut the door and Rosa squealed with joy at the creature inside.

A few weeks later Blanche and Yella were tearing down missing cat posters as Rosa played inside with Fluffy the cat. Azura was in the hospital with a broken wrist.

TIME SKIP- 2 months later

Blanche sat on the old oak wood porch with her book, the seven year old girl loved reading and she hoped her sisters would too, she would often read to Rosa before bed at night, but the twins liked different things.

They were fraternal twins, Yella was a bit pale skinned with blonde with hair that, like Rosa and Blanche, stuck up oddly. The three looked a little more like their father, with Yella looking most like him. Rosa's skin was darker and with her brown hair she looked somewhat like their mother, and Blanche's hair was snowy white from being albino.

Azura seemed to be the mirror image of their mother, same soft pale blue eyes, same light brown hair that fell gently around her face. She had tanned skin and Blanche was starting to understand why the girls father disliked Azura so much.

She was a constant reminder of what was lost. The girls mother had died moments after Rosa was born.

She watched the twins run around, they couldn't be any more different from each other. Where Azura was quiet and shied away from conflict Yella seemed to want to throw herself into chaos, she wasn't happy until she knew how to push every button someone had. Azura was also a bit on the shorter side, which fit with her being the younger of the two, she was better talking with animals and liked softer colours like blue where Yella liked talking to people and brighter colours such as (to nobody's surprise) yellow.

Yella was chasing her twin around the enormous backyard. Rosa's small hand patted Blanche's leg and she looked at her baby sister. "Can I sit with you Blanche? Please?" She asked and the white haired girl put her book down and pulled the three year old up to sit on her lap.

The two sisters jumped hearing Yella shout in anger, "That's not fair Azura!" The blonde snapped looking up at the top of a tree in the center of the yard. The younger of the twins had climbed up into the tree knowing that she couldn't be followed by the bad-tempered blonde. "You jerk!" She yelled and grabbed a stick off of the ground.

Azura was almost hidden at the top of tree, her eyes widened when Yella whipped the stick she had been holding at her. The short girl had cried out in fear when it nearly smacked her in the face.

Blanche set Rosa down and walked over to her blonde sister, "Yella!" She shouted, "You can't do things like that!"

"Why not?"

Blanche tried her hardest not to scream in frustration. "You could have seriously hurt her, that stick could have gone in her eye, or she might have fallen." The oldest child explained.

"Oh..." Said Yella, but Blanche couldn't see a hint of actual remorse on her face, just a tone that seemed to say 'But she didn't.'

The tall girl sighed, "Azura, please come down from there before you get hurt, and Yella you need to apologize." She said to the two of them.

The brown haired girl had come down, and her twin had said sorry for trying to hit her with a stick. Blanche went back to her book but found herself unable to focus for any longer, she looked to her youngest sister, "What am I going to do?" She asked, and Rosa shrugged as she pet the cat in her arms.

"I don't think you can fix them." Said the young girl, and Blanche nodded sadly.

There was no fixing anything around here, she always had to be the adult, Yella always had an awful temper, Azura was always overly emotional, and Rosa?

Rosa would always be innocent.


	7. Can You Feel The Love Tonight?

_**AN: Trigger warning for child abuse and implied past self-harm. Also some underage drinking I guess. The date of this chapter is October 8th.**_

Malachite sat in the cafeteria with Rainbow, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Opal. She drummed her fingers on the recently washed grey table as she listened to them chatter around her, it had been days and those girls STILL couldn't get over the fact that she had the guts to try and pick a fight with Alexandrite.

"Sooo?" Asked Sardonyx as she sidled up to the white haired girl. "I heard you and Alex hugged, is it true?" She asked with a smug smirk, Opal was snickering beside her. Malachite's fingers curled in and she pounded her fist on the table, wishing it was the blonde's face.

"Just drop it already you dodos!" She snarled, and Sugilite started to laugh, the white haired teen whipped around to look at her. "What's so funny?"

The indigo haired girl's laughter turned to borderline cackling, "The fact that you don't deny it!" She howled with laughter as Malachite's face turned a soft shade of red.

"Oh shut up." She muttered.

Rainbow put a hand on her shoulder, "Mala it's fine, you know Sugi loves teasing." She reminded her with a calm, gentle voice. The tall girl nodded before grabbing her messenger bag and standing up.

"Nothing happened. Now drop it before I drop you." She hissed at her friends, most of which were still snickering and elbowing each other. Malachite rolled her eyes before heading to a water fountain and pulling her small bottle of medication out.

So Alexandrite had been right about the pills after all. They had been too strong... But how did Alexandrite know about medication like that? She didn't seem to be sick... But then again, not many people had guessed that Malachite herself was sick, and even fewer people knew about Jasper's ADHD.

Apparently her big sister had talked with their father the night she had gone to the beach, but he had been upset Jasper had called during work and hung up before she could even say goodbye. Malachite wanted him to come home so badly, she wanted to ask him so many questions, like what exactly his work was, how she and Jasper could help out with the money troubles...

And why he had cheated on his wife so many years ago. Why he had even started talking to the mistress that became her mother... And if he blamed her for her mother's death...

She took her medication and watched the people go by, people with normal families, people who didn't have to regret being born due to it tearing another family apart. People who didn't live with the knowledge that their birth was a crime. People who didn't have to worry about medication, people who didn't have memories of being bullied over little things like needing glasses or being chubby as a kid...

Malachite took a deep, shuddering breath, and went to class. She hated people.

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli

She sat in the library, a few other teens sat near her, chattering away while she tried to relax in silence waiting for the bell to ring. And yes, she was reading manga, her papa had taught her how back when she was little.

Along with reading she was drawing in her sketchbook, a drawing of Peridot. Soft blonde hair, large, gentle blue-green eyes filled with innocence, yellow tinted glasses that were a bit too big for her face, that large hoodie that nearly swallowed her up with the sleeves almost covering her fingertips and an adorable smile that made her feel warm inside.

A boy was sitting next to her, his black hair was a mess as if he hadn't bothered to try and smooth it down and his dark green eyes had been locked onto the blue haired teen since she had sat down.

This was Jacob, the boy who'd had a weird crush on Lapis since the first day of school. He'd asked for her number countless times, asked her out on a date even more. She wasn't interested, flattered sure, but interested? Hell no. That hadn't stopped him though, Jacob was persistent. He'd been hitting on her and flirting with her past the point where most boys had given up. She looked up from her book when he tried to put an arm around her. "Hey Lapis-"

"No."

He raised his hands (and took his arm away, thank god, she didn't want to have to bite him) with a defensive look of fake innocence on his face. "Oh come on, you don't even know what I was going to say! I might have just been trying to be friendly." He almost shouted before realizing they were in a library. Lapis rolled her eyes, she had a few guesses, there was a Halloween dance coming up at the school at the end of the month.

All of a sudden Jacob pointed towards the door, Peridot had just walked in, the tiny girl was looking around curiously before typing in things on her phone, her bottom lip was a bit puffed out and instantly Lapis knew what she was doing. The little blonde was looking for her, and using her phone to keep track of places she'd already looked. Lapis watched as the dark haired boy looked at his friends and laughed. "Guys, it showed up, what do we do?"

One girl gave a cruel laugh. "Eww, what's it doing?" She asked with a disgustingly fake smile as she watched the little teen look around, growing more and more nervous when she couldn't find Lapis. The blue haired girl was starting to see red and she swore her blood was boiling, her nails were digging into the couch and if any of the teens had been looking at Lapis instead of teasing an innocent girl for being different they would have seen a dangerous look flash in her bright blue eyes. "What the fuck is wrong with it?"

"SHE'S looking for me. She's my best friend, she misses me and gets scared when I'm not around. Probably because assholes like you feel the need to constantly pick on her for no reason." Snarled Lapis as she stood up from her spot, leaving her manga forgotten on the scratchy wool couch.

Jacob gave her an incredulous look, he stood up and started to follow her, grabbing her hand to stop her from getting any further. "Lapis, don't tell me... You actually LIKE that little FREAK?" He said, loud and clear for all the other teens to hear, the group watched the two curiously now, one cocky and one about to fly into a murderous rage at those words.

She whirled around and pulled back her fist before slugging him in the face, breaking his nose and probably giving him a black eye. Lapis had knocked him flat on the ground. She watched him writhe in pain before wiping blood off of her hand on one girl's backpack. The one who'd made the rudest comment.

But it wasn't enough, this boy had to pay. She made sure he was looking her in the eyes before giving him a hard kick in the groin. She turned to address the others watching her. "If I catch ANY of you fuckers even THINKING something mean about Peridot I will have you humming soprano FOR A WEEK!" She screamed, not caring where she was, she marched straight up to Peridot, who Lapis hoped had only heard her final words to the arrogant group.

"Lapis? Are you okay?" She asked, looking nervous. Lapis relaxed before gently taking her hand and heading out of the library to their classroom.

"I'm fine Peri, I just don't like it when other kids, or hell even teachers think it's okay to hurt others just for being different." She explained, Peridot gave her hand a small squeeze.

The small girl sounded a bit sad. "I'm kind of used to it." Lapis let go of her hand before walking a bit ahead of her. She put a finger under the blonde girl's chin, tilting her head up slightly. It took Peridot a few seconds to look her in the eyes but Lapis had infinite patience with her.

The blue haired teen shook her head. "You shouldn't have to be... Peri tell me if someone's picking on you, okay? I'll deal with it." She smiled seeing the Greek teenager nod. "Especially if it's your sister, I'd love to give that dumb canary a reality check."

Peridot giggled softly, "You're going to get arrested one of these days." She joked, her mood seemed to be improving significantly as she sat at her desk. Lapis sat on top of it and gazed down at her, her heart swelling upon seeing that cat-like smile.

"Yep, and then you'll break me out and we'll be fugitives on the run. Peri and Lapis, taking on the world together!" Lapis announced loudly, making Peridot laugh.

Of course though, it had to be interrupted. Peridot's older sister, a whiny, bratty girl named Limone, cleared her throat, making an annoyed sound. "Hey idiot!" She called, and Peridot looked up as if Limone had called her name. "You forgot your lunch at home again you dumbass." She said with a smug smirk.

Peridot looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry." She said softly, but Limone's voice took on a sadistic tone as she continued. Peridot started to shrink in her seat.

"Damn, I wish I left it there." She said with an over-dramatic sigh, "You're lucky I didn't-"

She was cut off when Lapis whipped an eraser across the room at her, it hit the whiteboard with a hard smack and Limone yelped. "Hey!" The blonde girl squawked at Lapis, who simply gave a devilish smile. It didn't take much to make Limone cower in fear if Yella wasn't around.

"Damn, I missed." She said with a mischievous smirk. "Well I guess YOU'RE the lucky one, don't make me have to test it again."

TIME SKIP- Lunch

POV SHIFT- Caterina Syqua

She sat with her girlfriend at the crowded table, they would have gone outside to eat with the rest of the group but it was too windy to go outside. Cat had quietly hooked an arm around Aqua's waist, the green haired girl was listening to music, but it was far too loud. She wasn't going to let Aqua hurt herself in any possible way. The black haired girl pulled her earphones out. "What was that for?" Asked Aqua.

"Turn it down, or turn it off." She told her, Aqua shoved her phone back into her pocket. "I'm not letting you hurt yourself." She said strictly.

Pearl, who had been lazily flipping through a textbook, looked up at the couple. "Goodness, I've never heard you take that tone before, are you two arguing?" She asked, her pale blue eyes filled with concern.

Cat shook her head. "Oh god no, I just don't like it when she does things like that." The somewhat buff girl explained. "I love her too much to let her do bad things to herself." Pearl nodded in understanding. If you love someone, part of that love is making sure they see how there actions can lead to bad things.

Aqua wasn't very kind to her body. She stayed up late at night, often forgoing sleep with the excuse that she'd sleep during the day, she would run despite her asthma, she drank sometimes despite her body having a bit of a hard time processing alcohol, and not to mention the time when Cat had caught her bandaging her ankles after a long shower...

Cat would never get angry with her, she didn't have the heart for that. She never asked why her girlfriend was so keen on punishing herself for things, but she could at the very least try to curb her behaviours. "I'm not a child, you don't have to do those things." Aqua muttered, the dark haired girl simply shook her head and pulled her closer. "Now how am I supposed to stay awake?"

Rose had been sitting beside Aqua, she had been holding a coffee but hadn't taken a single sip. "I know using coffee to stay awake isn't the best option, but if you'd like you can take mine." Said Rose, and when Aqua gave her a look of disgust she quickly added, "I haven't drank from it, don't worry." The pink haired girl said gently before handing the Korean girl the cup, Aqua gave a thankful nod and started to drink.

Pearl looked at her crush (Cat may have been a bit stupid, but she was good at reading people's feelings) with confusion. "Rose, is something wrong?" She asked, clearly worried, but Rose shook her head with a soft laugh.

"No, I'm fine, just nervous that's all." She told the French girl, who still wasn't satisfied. When Pearl urged her to explain she continued. "I'm skipping next period to talk to Greg, I just hope Blanche or Azura don't find me."

Cat wanted to laugh. Blanche wasn't so bad when you got to know her, she was a rather nice woman, extremely strict sure, but she had a good heart. Cat didn't know anything about the somber vice principal though, other than that today she was the only one out of the three to have shown up today. Yella was said to be sick and Rosa still hadn't shown up, Cat had seen the pink haired woman during orientation day over the summer, she seemed so sweet, almost motherly. Rosa was the reason the school didn't a uniform.

Pearl looked upset. "You're going to talk with Greg? Why?" She asked, Rose gave a brilliant smile, completely unaware of how Pearl felt.

"He wanted to give me a ticket to his next concert, it's tomorrow!" She squealed happily, Cat's eyes widened, of course! She had forgotten! She was supposed to get Vidalia to help! She and the other teen were supposed to help Greg out with the show, but Cat remembered with a grimace that she had planned a date with her girlfriend, along with the fact that Vidalia was very much grounded. Apparently the blonde teenager had been... Doing things with a boy named Marty, which had led to her getting pregnant.

Safe to say, her parents were less than pleased.

Cat supposed she could find someone to help... She looked at the teens sitting around at the table. Pearl definitely wouldn't help, Ruby had plans with Sapphire after school, Peridot couldn't go out tonight for some reason, Rainbow and Amethyst though...? She'd ask.

"Hey Rainbow? Amethyst?" She gently called to them. The two teens had been chatting. They turned to look at her. All she needed was for someone to take Vidalia's place as drummer and someone to take her own place with the lighting. There was a tiny stage in the park where people could put on performances, all people needed to do was bring whatever they needed.

"Yeah dude?" Amethyst asked, curiosity flaring in her deep blue eyes. Rainbow just stared, Cat noticed she was looking a little somber lately.

Cat gave them a cheerful smile, trying to forget her error. "Greg needs some people to help out with his show in the park tomorrow, would you guys be up for it? We need someone for lights and effects, and somebody that can play drums." She explained, Rainbow grinned.

"I'm hanging out with Garnet at the park then, we could help! We could do things with the lights and I know Garnet can play a few instruments." She told Cat, and Amethyst looked ecstatic, she smacked her tiny hands onto the table, making Pearl jump.

"Amethyst-"

"Bet your sweet ass I'll be there! I love music!" The purple haired teen crowed loudly, the French girl beside her did not look happy. Cat could see a hint of jealousy flash in her eyes.

"Amethyst, you and I were going to be hanging out together tomorrow." She grumbled. Amethyst looked up at her and gave a soft smile as her cheeks turned pink.

"Well P... You and I can still hang out. You can watch me, and if I'm not playing I could sit with you." She told her, the peach haired teen looked a bit happier, although still upset.

"Promise? I hate being alone." She muttered, and Amethyst nodded with a smile full of love.

"I promise, P. I won't leave ya."

TIME SKIP- Next period

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond

She sighed as she walked through the halls, acutely aware of what had been said about her in the library this morning. It wasn't her fault she was different, it wasn't like she WANTED to be labelled as a freak or treated this way. Peridot had tried to be friendly in the early days, just like those movies taught her, but apparently it school did not work like the way it did in movies. Cheerleaders didn't gossip about each other and jocks could do well in school and not all nerds were picked on and despite her first thoughts Lapis Lazuli was NOT a delinquent.

The tiny blonde didn't know what she could call Lapis, she wasn't preppy but wasn't closed off enough to be labelled as emo. She was snarky and loved art, she could draw anything she wanted without fear of a teacher disliking her work. Peridot had even watched on the first day of school as Lapis stared Miss Diamond down and took a detention for wearing a shirt that read 'say hi if you're bi!'

Oh the first day of school, that had been... Eventful to say the very least.

Peridot had just been let out of the Basement after having been in there for four days, her stomach was growling and her clothes smelled badly but Miss Diamond had been generous enough to let Peridot have a piece of toast and a quick shower. It would be Peridot's first day of real school, for she had been home-schooled up until this point and the only things she knew about high school were what she had seen in movies.

It had come at the cost of not being driven to school like Limone was. But looking back Peridot supposed she was very lucky, for if she hadn't taken the quiet bus where nobody wanted to talk to weird tiny rich girl then she would not have been so desperate to run to her locker. She would not have smacked face first into Lapis Lazuli.

Lapis had also been running, she had been carrying quite a few books that day, and for some reason Peridot could remember clear as day that she had them all resting on her hip. Probably because if she hadn't the blonde would not have gone straight into her chest and put the two of them in a somewhat compromising position when Peridot had knocked her over by accident despite her small size.

The tiny blonde had squealed out a small string of about 10 apologies at once but the blue haired girl had simply dusted herself off, muttered an "I'm fine." And took off after collecting all but one book. Peridot watched her leave. Ripped jeans, dark hoodie, and a somewhat fierce look in her eyes right before Peridot had collided with her. This girl, according to the movies that the Greek teen had watched, was a delinquent.

She reached for the book that the mysterious girl had left behind with shaking hands and turned it over. It was small and a very icy shade of blue 'Lapis Lazuli' It read in darker blue marker, along with in small letters 'journal'.

Oh no. This was personal to that girl and if it fell into the wrong hands she would probably beat Peridot senseless. The book looked new, indicating she hadn't written much, and while Peridot understood how much invading someones privacy hurt (her sister kept trying to listen to her log) she needed a clue as to where this girl might be found, as her phone couldn't quite access all of the security cameras just yet.

She took a tiny peek inside and saw a few drawings, so this Lapis girl liked art! That was odd, Peridot had never seen someone like her in a movie liking that sort of thing. But no matter! Peridot would check around the art hall and in the classrooms a few times throughout the day!

As it turned out, she found Lapis during lunch as she walked timidly through the hallways. But here was the downside. Lapis had taken off her hoodie, revealing a blue, pink and purple shirt that read 'say hi if you're bi!' and Miss Diamond was FURIOUS with her for 'promoting such behaviour'. Peridot was far too scared to go near the two, she would get in a lot of trouble at home for interrupting Miss Diamond's work, not to mention Lapis might just kill her for embarrassing right in front of a vice principal.

So she would wait, and try her best to follow Lapis, too scared to actually talk to her in front of what could easily become a crowd of people excited to watch as the blue haired teen ripped her to shreds.

It soon became the end of the day. Peridot watched Lapis put her books in her locker, she had clearly been growing frustrated at the lack of her journal. Peridot still followed her, said book held close to her chest so there was no way it could get damaged. The Greek girl followed Lapis up to the art room and watched her walk in. Oh, so she had signed up for Art Club? This would be easier now, as there weren't many teens in it. She walked into the room and scanned it, looking for blue hair. It smelled of pastels, crayons, paper and of course, paint. "Hey." A blunt voice snapped. "I know you."

Peridot whirled around, and started to shake seeing Lapis staring directly into her soul. She had a sucker in her mouth with her socked feet up on the desk, she wasn't wearing much makeup, just some dark eyeliner and that was it. Nothing like Peridot's concealer, and obviously the two girls had different uses for their makeup. Lapis' made her haunting pale blue eyes seem more intimidating and Peridot's covered bruises.

Peridot could practically hear the stereotypical 'bad to the bone' type music as the blue haired girl wiggled a finger, gesturing for Peridot to come closer. "Whatcha got there?" She asked with an unamused voice and pointed to her journal, her light blue eyes seemed to be searching Peridot as if to find out if she was some sort of stalker creep. Which with all the following she kind of was by this point but that was different!

She held out the book she had held close all day with trembling hands. "Please don't eat me." She squeaked out, and blushed realizing what she'd said. What Peridot had MEANT to say was 'Please don't beat me.' But in all her nervousness her words had broken.

Lapis' once piercing gaze became one of amusement. "Look I'm not exactly fond of most people but I haven't resorted to cannibalism just yet." She muttered with a crooked smile before grabbing her journal. "You're that girl I smacked into... You didn't read any of this did you?" Asked Lapis, Peridot shook her head rapidly.

"Only the first page but that was just drawings because I wanted to try and find you!" She explained, her voice shaking. Lapis nodded and took the blue sucker out of her mouth. "I-I swear!"

"Okay. I believe you." Lapis muttered and relaxed back into her seat as she tossed the sucker into the trash can. Upon seeing Peridot's confused face she gave a soft snort. "I believed you from the start you dork, I was just joking around. You don't look like a person who would snoop. Lapis Lazuli by the way, but I'm guessing you already knew that." She told the tiny girl and held out a tan hand, longer and tougher looking and then Peridot's tiny pale ones. She took her hand cautiously and shook it. This supposed delinquent was being nicer to her than pretty much anyone at the school. Sure she'd seen some of the kids she had met during the summer, but they hadn't talked to her. "Nice to meet you."

"P-Peridot Diamond." She cursed internally for stuttering. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance." She said formally and Lapis gave a loud snort before falling into a tiny fit of giggles.

"Ah god, you don't have to act all prim and proper!" Lapis said with a smile. "Just be friendly, c'mon I don't bite." She said with a sly grin and for some reason Peridot could feel heat rising in her cheeks.

"W-well um, nice to meet you... Too. I should get going-" She cut herself off with a sharp squeal when a teen in the back had dropped things and made a loud crash. Peridot had flinched and started shaking all over again at the memory of every time she heard that sound at home, and the usual pain that came afterwards.

The tiny girl made her way towards the door without another word, she was embarrassed beyond words now. "Peridot?" She heard Lapis ask, and she jumped a little before slowly turning around. Lapis' bright blue eyes were filled with concern. "Are you okay?"

That had been the first time in all her life someone had ever bothered to ask that. She started to smile brilliantly. Lapis Lazuli was not a delinquent, she was a friend.

And now she was Peridot's best friend.

The two walked through the halls together, joined by Cat and Aqua. Cat was apparently looking for Greg, Aqua was joining her. Lapis had dragged Peridot away from her class. This would be the first time she'd ever be late. "Guys look, he's talking to Rose." Peridot heard Aqua mutter, the small group hid behind a corner of the wall to spy on the two.

They'd been rather friendly with each other ever since they'd met. Rose was fascinated with him. Peridot didn't quite get it.

The small group crouched down, not wanting to be seen by the two. Aqua was kneeling beside her, Cat sat behind the green haired girl and leaned on her, straining to hear. Peridot suddenly became very aware of a certain pretty blue haired girl's chest pressing into her back. "I can't really see, what are they saying?" She whispered, but Peridot's mouth simply opened and closed, no words coming out.

Rose was laughing, "Oh come on, history class isn't so bad!" She was smiling brightly, her warm brown eyes filled with joy. "Well, my teacher's nice anyway."

Greg shook his head. "Yeah, a few of them are, but mine just doesn't like me." He told her, Rose looked at him as if he'd grown two heads.

"Oh come on Greg, who wouldn't like you? You're nice, and very clever." The pink haired teen said with a gentle smile. Greg seemed to blush ever so slightly and he scratched the back of his neck.

"Ah, yeah, so I've heard. I think it's just because my music interfered with a little project." The brunette admitted, and Rose let out another short laugh. Peridot heard Cat chuckle before she softly whispered.

"I think he likes her."

The blonde could feel Lapis shift around, making her squeak. "Sorry Peri." She muttered before looking at Cat. "You think so? That'd be cute. I mean, he DID give her concert tickets for free, even if they were only a couple bucks."

Aqua shushed them. "I'm trying to listen." She hissed.

Greg appeared to be talking about his new song. "So I was talking to Rainbow, and I said to her 'Your username feels like a good song title, mind if I use it?' and then she said I could! So that's how I got the name for it!" He explained, Rose nodded. "And um... Actually, I have a small question for you."

Rose's eyes flickered with curiosity. "Yes? What is it, is something wrong?" The pink haired girl asked, a little worried.

"See um... I don't want to sing it alone... I was gonna have Vidalia sing but she's really grounded... I wanted to know if y-you would sing... With... Me?" Asked Greg, so nervous Peridot felt sympathy bubbling inside of her chest for this poor boy.

Rose gasped her eyes lighting up as she hugged him. "I would be honoured Greg!" She squealed with delight. Peridot backed up a little at the noise, straight into Lapis.

"Easy there." She murmured, her voice amused. Peridot shivered feeling her breath tickle the back of her neck. "Just relax Per-bear, I won't fall and hurt you. I promise."

Peridot frowned as a voice in her head whispered _'Oh no, maybe she won't hurt you, but when you get home you're screwed.'_

TIME SKIP- End of the school day

POV SHIFT- Sapphire Hibernis

Sapphire sat with her girlfriend in the front foyer of the school, the two were waiting for Ruby's mom (or dad) to pick them up. Ruby had simply wanted to go to her home tonight without worrying about her car. The blue haired girl leaned on her shoulder as they sat on a cold blue metal bench, their fingers interlaced. She could hear Ruby mutter, "She's staring again."

The short girl looked around, as Ruby had not pointed to her, but Sapphire found her with ease. Azura Diamond, Sapphire's vice principal, was watching them. She had been since the first day of school, it wasn't like it was a creepy stare, just curious and sad. Was she studying her and Ruby? Yella may have been a known homophobe, but Azura didn't seem to mind.

Jasper had seen it a few days ago and jokingly said, "Maybe it's because you both have blue hair, she's watching you and thinking 'look, a younger me!'." While Sapphire had laughed a bit and nodded, Azura's gaze was too somber to be anything regarding a joke.

"I don't know what she wants, it looks like she wants to say something, but if I start to go up to her she just... Walks away." Sapphire explained, Ruby nodded and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Her girlfriend always knew how to make her feel better. It had been a little while since Malachite had gone missing, apparently her and Alex had a fight on the beach. The two tall teens had been chatting a bit lately, Sapphire had been watching them when they were close (okay so maybe Azura's watching them wasn't so bad and Sapphire was being a hypocrite, who knows?) and they seemed to be friendly.

She watched as the woman watching her and Ruby closed her eyes and looked down. Azura walked away looking as if she all of her energy had been sapped away...

The blue haired teen felt a hand on her arm, she jumped a little. "Easy Sapphire, it's okay." Ruby spoke calmly as not to startle her, she looked at the dark haired teen and gave a soft smile.

"I'm okay." She told her, and Ruby gave her a bright, beautiful grin in return. Two years ago Sapphire had been diagnosed with Anxiety, it had its good days, where she loved going outside and talking to her friends came naturally... But other days Ruby would have to hold her tightly and whisper reassuring words just to keep her somewhat calm, those days when going outside was basically asking her to jump off of a cliff. "I'm here."

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked, she nodded in response. Satisfied, her girlfriend led her outside. "Looks like it's going to rain soon." She muttered, Sapphire looked up at the sky, it was cloudy sure, but not dark enough that it would rain. But it was chilly and the wind was starting to pick up, she could see the pine trees that surrounded the school swaying in the quickening breeze. She huddled close to the brown haired girl and shivered.

"I'm cold..." She murmured, Ruby took off her jacket and wrapped it around Sapphire before putting a warm arm around her. The blue haired teen let out a blissful sigh and leaned into the other girl's side, taking in her scent. The smell of burnt wood.

Truth be told, Ruby was a tiny bit of a pyromaniac, she lit little fires to deal with her stress. She and Sapphire had a trick to keep it under control though, the two would gather some sticks and leaves that had fallen off of trees and take them to Ruby's house. They would sit in the backyard for hours talking watching the flames burn, and sometimes would even roast things over the fire. They had taken something that could be considered dangerous and had turned it into something nicer.

It didn't always go well though, Sapphire would never forget the look on Ruby's face when Navera, one of Ruby's little sisters, had tossed the entire bag of marshmallows into the fire. That had not gone well.

Ruby patted her shoulder. "C'mon Sapphire, my dad's here." She said and the short girl followed her into the large van.

Ruby's father was indeed in the front seat of the car. He was a tall man (which was odd because every one of his kids were short) from Ethiopia with short hair and brown eyes. He was kind, a little strange, and already considered Sapphire to be his daughter-in-law. "Hey guys, how are you?" He asked, and after climbing into a seat the blue haired girl answered.

"Good, how did the parents meeting go?" She responded and he cringed making the two teens snicker. "That bad?"

"Soccer moms frighten me." He told them, Ruby laughed.

The short girl gave her father a puzzled look, "Then shouldn't mom scare you?" She asked, her dad shook his head with a small smile.

"No... It's her mother I'm scared of." He explained, Sapphire nodded vigorously at the memory of meeting Ruby's grandmother. She was a strict, old-fashioned woman who very much disapproved of Ruby's father along with Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. The old bat was always trying to get Ruby to act more 'ladylike'.

She would be spending the weekend at Ruby's house, the blue haired girl couldn't stay in the big dorm all by herself, and the thought of going to her own house made her sick to her stomach. Her mother was there, the woman who hated Sapphire for reasons she wold never know, she pressured Sapphire more and more to constantly do better, she piled on strict rules and made the young girl feel absolutely horrible if she broke them.

But there was someone else in that house. Her stepfather... He would scream at her until she was in tears, picked on her for having a blind eye, made her do any chore he could think of, and if he thought she was complaining he would break something she owned...

Sapphire hugged Ruby tightly. Ruby's parents were so kind too her, they understood, and were deeply saddened by the fact that they could quite help.

Her girlfriend hugged her back, stroking her soft hair. "I'm here Sapphire, it was just a thought." She whispered. But what was Sapphire supposed to do when those thoughts were real?

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond- Bus ride home

She sat alone at the back of the bus, curled up and trying not to sniffle. She had faked a smile for most of the day, but now her mind decided it was the absolute PERFECT time to let all the things people said about her slip into her thoughts. The blonde shook her head, she had no place for such thoughts. She would be home soon, and Miss Diamond didn't like it when she cried.

The tiny girl pulled her backpack back up onto her shoulder and hopped off the bus when it reached her stop, not bothering to wave goodbye to anyone.

It had been said that Yella was sick today. That was a lie, she had other work to do, and was perfectly content with dumping it onto her twin sister, Peridot's aunt Azura.

She slipped into the house as quietly as possible but almost puked when the terrifyingly familiar arid scent of alcohol flooded her senses.

 _Miss Diamond had been drinking._

Peridot's heartbeat picked up as she slipped off her shoes as quietly as possible and made her way up the stairs, she didn't dare put any of her things down, the small girl would not make her presence known.

She quietly slipped her backpack under her tiny bed, along with her shoes. Her breath hitched when she heard someone walking around downstairs. The blonde quickly scrambled under the bed and stayed there, her hands clamped over her mouth as silent tears started to roll down her cheeks.

It was funny really, most children believed there was a monster under the bed. She was hiding under her bed from the monster in the house.

"Where are you, you worthless little bitch?" Miss Diamond hissed, and Peridot bit down hard on her lip to stop herself from sobbing. "I said COME OUT! How fucking stupid are you!?"

She was shaking, and almost passed out upon seeing her mother's feet in the hallway. "I heard the door open you waste of space. Now be good and do as you're fucking told!"

Peridot would stay under her bed, hidden away from Miss Diamond. She would not come out for food or water no matter how much her body ached for it. What had she done to deserve this? All she wanted was somebody who loved her, she had once begged Yella to pay attention, to act even for 5 minutes as if Peridot's life meant something.

"I'm kind of glad I can't find you. At least this way I don't have to look at that ugly little face."

TIME SKIP- 9:45 at night

Limone had come into her room and called for her. Peridot crawled out from under the bed, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, there were tears stains on her face and she was shaking like a leaf from lack of water. "We have to go meet with our aunts." She said, and Peridot was thankful that Limone had a least a shred of mercy in her as to not give away Peridot's hiding place.

She liked her aunts, they were nice to her, and Peridot had the feeling she was their favourite niece.

The drive to Diamond academy wasn't eventful. There was a slight breeze outside making the colourful leaves on all of the trees drift lazily to the ground. Miss Diamond appeared to have sobered up, but then again she was driving very slowly, as this road needed to be repaired.

Peridot watched with childish delight as the leaves fell, they would create piles that she and her friends could play in. She felt her small hands start to tap and pat her legs as she watched out the window at a whimsically colourful world that was Beach City.

"Peridot knock that off. Quiet Hands, now." Miss Diamond ordered, and the blonde let out a sot whimper as she forced her hands to be still in her lap. "Don't bitch and whine at me. You're lucky I don't have you in electroshock therapy."

She nodded as Yella pulled up to the school and parked. "Limone, you can come with me. Peridot, you may roam around. Do NOT stray far, and by that I mean out of school bounds. Be thankful I let you do this." The blonde woman growled and Peridot nodded again.

"Yes Miss Diamond, thank you so much." She murmured meekly.

The Greek teen wandered around the outside of the school in the dark, occasionally taking a glance up at the huge moon above. Eventually she found the back of the school and let out a gasp. "Lapis?"

The blue haired girl was sitting on the pavement, leaning against the wall with one of her legs bent upwards while the other just stuck there. She looked at Peridot and gave a lazy smile. "Well hello stranger, what are you doing here?" She asked. Peridot just gave a little shrug. "Cool. Me too." Lapis said nonchalantly and grabbed a dark brown bottle from the side Peridot couldn't see before taking a tiny sip.

It was beer. Peridot recognized it instantly. "You drink?" She asked, wide eyed.

"Only a really little bit. I still have to walk home, but I don't wanna right now." She explained before holding the bottle up to Peridot. "Want some?"

Peridot's first thought? _'I guess it would numb the pain for when I got home...'_ But she shook her head, she knew what that stuff did to you the next morning.

"Alright. That's fine, I don't really like it that much myself but it does feel nice after a long day of work." She told the blonde before patting the ground beside her. "Come sit Hoaloha."

She smiled at her nickname and sat beside Lapis, who was looking up at the night sky, lit up with stars and a silver moon. "God it's beautiful out here, isn't it?" She said without looking at Peridot.

But Peridot was looking at her. Lapis had beautifully peaceful bright blue eyes, which had been given a silver shone from the moonlight. Her dark blue hair fell softly around her face, framing it perfectly with soft fluffy bangs that moved gently in the breeze as though they were feathers. Her skin may have looked pale in the moonlight, but to Peridot it was still warm and perfect, with the few freckles on her cheeks looking like tiny stars, so wonderful yet out of reach... Just like Lapis herself...

"Yes, absolutely gorgeous."


	8. Diamond Chapter 2

_**AN: Warning for child abuse. It's not as graphic as the other times and no it's not Peri this time. This chapter is 10 years before Chatroom.**_

Azura sat in the dark, her sisters had gone to bed a while ago, but the brunette had been forced to stay up. She had pressed herself against the wall, shaking and trying not to sob. Her father was home and she hadn't cleaned everything yet.

She hadn't understood why he hated her so much back when she had been only five years old, but now she was 10 and she knew perfectly well why her father couldn't stand her. She was the spitting image of her mother, nothing but a reminder of what was lost.

She didn't miss her mother very much, after all Azura had been a toddler when she died giving birth to Rosa, but she guessed maybe she should feel stronger about that. Perhaps it was because she had a different mother figure.

Her older sister Blanche. She was 12 now, and was quite tall. Blanche was brilliant for her age and very mature. Sometimes Azura could hear the albino girl singing in the shower, her voice was beautiful too. When Azura grew up she hoped Blanche would still be part of her life. In truth she wanted all of her sisters to be close the way they were now, forever and ever.

The door opened and the young girl curled up in the corner starting to feel the familiar prick of tears in her eyes.

TIME SKIP- 20 minutes

POV SHIFT- Blanche Diamond

She lay awake in her bed, her father had gotten home and was screaming at her little sister, calling her awful things the white haired girl didn't want to repeat. She winced and sat straight up upon hearing Azura screaming in pain.

Then silence...

After a few moments that felt like years she heard someone lightly creep up the steps. There was a soft knock on the door to her (well, her and her sisters, who still somehow managed to sleep like rocks) bedroom. "S-sis... C-c-can I come in...?"

Blanche sprung out of bed and opened the door, nearly dragging her little sister inside before hugging her gently. The poor thing could spook easily and god only knew what their father had done to her. "Shh, it's okay now, you're safe now." Blanche whispered and ran her fingers through Azura's hair. The younger girl looked pale as a ghost, she was shivering with bruises blossoming like ugly flowers on her wrist. The same wrist their father had snapped like a twig 5 years ago for bringing the cat home...

She guided her little sister into bed and laid with her. "I'm right here Blue, I won't leave. I promise." She said, using Azura's little nickname to try and calm her down. The smaller of the two clung to Blanche's side.

The albino girl's blood ran cold when she put her hand on Azura's side. She looked at her hand, even in the darkness she could still see it. Her palm was dark and slick with blood.

"It hurts..." Azura whimpered quietly. Blanche threw a pillow at Yella.

"What the hell?" The blonde muttered as she woke up. "What do you want?" She asked, her eyes narrowed. Or at least they were until she saw the state of her twin sister.

"Go to the bathroom and get bandages. Now." Blanche ordered, and Yella nodded before slipping quietly out of the room.

Azura cried for the rest of the night.

TIME SKIP- A few days later

POV SHIFT- Yella Diamond

It was bright and sunny outside, the blonde watched a few birds sitting in the field. She was bored out of her mind, she wanted something fun to do but Rosa was back at home recovering from a sunburn, Yella wouldn't bug her. She wouldn't ask her twin, she was still jumpy from... Whatever had happened a few nights ago, and Blanche was with her.

Yella sighed before getting up from her spot on the ground. She dusted off her jeans and walked over to her Azura and Blanche. "Hi." She muttered bitterly as she sat down, she hated summer. It was hot and there was nothing to do.

Azura moved closer to her. Did she not get that it was hot out? "What are you guys doing?" The blonde asked without any real interest.

"We want to build a tree-house." Said Blanche, her bright blue eyes not straying from the tiny pieces of flat wood she was working with. "I'm making the floor plan."

Yella nodded. At least it would give them something to do. She noticed that though the pieces were being moved around they were stuck as if they were one. "What kind of glue are you using for that?" She asked, now interested because there MAY have been a vase in need of repair. It wasn't her fault the damn cat liked the laser pointer too much.

Blanche showed her the little bottle without even looking up. "Try it, it dries super fast, kind of cool actually." She muttered and handed Yella the glue before taking out a pencil and starting to sketch. She was completely focused on her work.

Though they were exact opposites it seemed Azura and Yella had a bit of a connection. They didn't need words to speak. Yella held out her hand, with the smaller girl placing her own on top of it. The blonde shook it off for a moment and slipped some glue onto her hand before squishing Azura's onto it. The mousy girl let out a soft giggle after the glue had dried and the two tried to wiggle their fingers.

It was the sound of the brunette's giggling that made Blanche look up. "Azura?" She asked before catching sight of their glued hands when the younger twin pointed it out. Blanche's eyes widened. "No! Don't do that you'll be stuck together!"

"Oh god shut up it's fine. We can just pull apart like this." Said Yella, but when she tried it didn't work. The only thing that happened was Azura wincing and rubbing her bruised wrist. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

Blanche groaned loudly and slapped her forehead with her palm. "What am I going to do with you two?" She asked, but before either of the twins could answer she got up. "I'll go home and find something to take it off. Stay here and..." She gave a soft, mischievous smile. "Stick together."

"I hate you."

The albino girl laughed a little (a rare sight indeed) before running off to go home to hopefully help them.

Yella sat in silence for a while. Listening to the birds chirp at each other and the faint breeze. "Umm... Yella?" Said Azura. "Are you okay? You were all alone earlier."

The blonde growled. "Maybe I like to be alone." She hissed. "I'm fine. Just bored."

Azura nodded slowly. "Oh..." She said softly. "You could go try making friends." She suggested after a few moments. The blonde girl's patience had officially worn thin, she just wanted Blanche to come back soon, she hated this! She was supposed to love her sister but Azura was just too... Friendly.

"This is WORSE than the womb!" Yella snapped and Azura gave her one of those rare icy glares.

"Oh yes, and I'm loving this. Being with you is an absolute picnic."

The blonde mocked her voice, which shut her up quickly with a huff.

It wasn't long before a young boy came up to the two. "Um, hi." He said, bewildered. "Do you guys need help?"

Yella looked at him and held up their hands. "Please? Our sister is taking forever to get something to help us." She asked, feeling pathetic at having to ask a stranger for help.

He nodded, he was tall with blonde hair, much like Yella herself. He had piercing hazel eyes, freckles, and a wild but slightly charming smile. The boy was carrying a water bottle with him. "Okay, just pull apart as much as you can. I don't want to accidentally get you guys with the water."

Azura groaned. "That's all it takes? What was Blanche thinking it was made of?" She whispered but Yella could hear her. The boy could too, he laughed.

"She'll be all confused when she gets back though, it'll be funny." He chirped as he poured the water onto the twins, who started pulling at each other the second the lukewarm water hit.

Azura's back hit the wall and she squeaked while Yella almost fell over when their hands came apart quickly. The blonde's eyes widened when the boy grabbed her hand to keep her from falling. "You okay?" He asked. She nodded and stood up again.

"Thanks." She said quickly and held out her hand, then switching them when she realized she had held out the recently glued one. He laughed again, making the young girl's cheeks feel oddly warm, was it getting warmer out?

"No problem. My dad and I just moved here a few days ago, so you and her are kinda the first people I've met." He shook her hand, his hazel eyes gleaming with curiosity. "What's your name?"

She felt so stupid when she pointed to herself. "Me?" Of course it was her he was staring right at her. "It's Yella. What's yours?"

"Hmm, nice to meet you Yella. My name's Claude."


	9. What Goes Up, Must Come Down

_**AN: The current date is October 9**_ _ **th**_ _ **. By the way yes, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Opal are in a polyamorous relationship. They all love each other. Oh and uh, there's drinking. There's a mistake in the last Diamond chapter, it's not 10 years before, it's 28 years. 10 is my placeholder, sorry about that. Remember to visit the blog if you like it, or if you want to talk with the characters!**_

Sardonyx walked out of the bedroom and into the tiny kitchen of her dorm. Sugilite had been working late last night on a paper and wasn't awake just yet, and god help you if you tried to wake Opal before 7:30. Sardonyx smiled sleepily as she thought of her girlfriends snuggled together while she grabbed three mugs in her dark hands.

One was for tea, that was hers. Another was for hot chocolate, that was for Sugilite. The last one was coffee. Sardonyx chuckled, that was for Opal and her coffee addiction.

She gazed out the window and sighed. It was raining a bit at the moment, but at least the dorm was at a cozy warm temperature, because the blonde was currently walking around in a black tank top and red shorts. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see a very tired Sugilite standing in the doorway. "Hey babe..." Sugilite murmured.

Sardonyx set the mugs down on the counter and hugged the taller girl. "Hello love. Is Opal awake yet?" She asked, the indigo haired teen shook her head.

"Nope, sleeping like a baby." She said with a soft smile before yawning. "I don't know how you wake up this freakin' early."

The blonde giggled softly. "The early bird gets the worm." She chirped, Sugilite gave a huff.

"Yeah well the bird that sleeps in can fly straight." She snarked playfully. Sardonyx just smiled and made their drinks.

Opal came into the kitchen soon after, her pale purple hair was messy and her eyes were almost closed. "I hate mornings..." She muttered before Sardonyx gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I have coffee for you." Said the blonde, and that was all it took for Opal to perk up.

"You do?" In that moment it looked as if there were stars in her pretty light blue eyes.

Sugilite started to laugh. "There she is!" The indigo haired girl beside her cheered.

Sardonyx went into her room and started to get dressed. She grabbed her phone from her nightstand, cursing herself as she realized she'd forgotten to charge it last night. No matter, she still pulled up the chatroom and began messaging the others.

Known-to-Smash: Gooood morning everybody!

don't_lapiss_me_off: fuck off

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Oh no.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: you Lapissed her off.

Known-to-Smash: Oh hush Jasper that pun was awful.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: What, you gonna PUNish me?

La_Vie_En_Rose: Jasper I swear I'll block you.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: IS THAT ALL IT TAKES? WHY DID I NOT TRY THAT?

purple_PUMA: ah shut it you love us now

keepittogether: You know what I love? Sleeping in on a fucking SATURDAY.

I-am-the-Ocean's-gay-waves: AMEN TO THAT!

purple_PUMA: HOLY CRAP Alex talks to us twice in one week

don't_lapiss_me_off: it's a miracle.

Known-to-Smash: Lapis how are you messaging us? You don't have internet at home.

don't_lapiss_me_off: at a coffee shop, come join me if you want

What-can-I-do4u: Do your parents watch you... At all?

don't_lapiss_me_off: My dads are sleeping.

Sink-the-DINK: hey if you're at the coffee shop with all the donuts can I join you? I get discounts if I 'bring more customers'.

don't_lapiss_me_off: uh yeah sure

Sink-the-DINK: you rock dude!

don't_lapiss_me_off: my name ain't Lapis Lazuli for nothing.

La_Vie_En_Rose: See Jasper? THAT is comedy. Subtle.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: I hate you all.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: hey guys? I need some help.

I-am-the-Ocean's-gay-waves: I think we ALL need help to be honest

What-can-I-do4u: Read the screen name buddy. I'll help you.

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: I wanna take Sapphire out on a little date, but I don't have any money... You guys have any ideas?

HappyCat: Aw, that's so sweet Ruby!

What-can-I-do4u: Okay, nevermind. I can't help you there. Sorry Ruby.

Mr-Universe: I just got on, but I can't really help Ruby, sorry but I've kinda got some issues in that department too.

La_Vie_En_Rose: Oh, Greg you're online! I was going to ask if you could come over tonight?

Mr-Universe: Sure! Again I wish I could help you Ruby

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: it's fine. Anybody else?

don't_lapiss_me_off: ooh, I got this, I'm a relationship expert

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Said the virgin.

don't_lapiss_me_off: okay first of all

don't_lapiss_me_off: FUCK OFF.

don't_lapiss_me_off: second, Ruby you could make her a little picnic at the park it doesn't really cost anything

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: thanks Lapis!

don't_lapiss_me_off: yeah

purple_PUMA: holy shit Lapis throwing more shade than Aquamarine!

I-am-the-Ocean's-gay-waves: Who?

purple_PUMA: not you dude, you're AQUA. This Aquamarine bitch is smaller and more... British. She's like Peri sized with deep blue hair and some weird birthmark on her cheek, she hangs out with Limone a lot too, I heard she got a car for her sweet 16

ETERNALFLAMEBABY: Oh good, more shitty rich kids, just what the neighbourhood needs to make us look even worse

La_Vie_En_Rose: You guys won't be able to curse so much soon, I have to babysit kids!

Known-to-Smash: Who do you babysit?

La_Vie_En_Rose: I watch two kids from my neighbourhood, a little boy named Lars and a little girl named Sadie, they aren't brother and sister but their parents have similar work hours, so I just have both of them at my house!

purple_PUMA: dude Sadie is my boss's daughter!

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: She's my boss as well.

purple_PUMA: MORNING PEARL!

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Good morning Amethyst, I hope you slept well.

purple_PUMA: not a wink.

don't_lapiss_me_off: Barb's my boss too, I hear her kid is adorable

La_Vie_En_Rose: You guys all work at the same restaurant? And yes she is cute.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Yes, it's quite nice, you'd really like it, you should drop by some time! Actually... Could anyone here please come by? I want to know what you all like to eat.

What-can-I-do4u: Why?

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Hang on.

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: For what?

Sink-the-DINK: ooh, what's goin on?

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Okay, Amethyst is in the shower. I have a surprise for her birthday.

keepittogether: What is it?

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: I want to throw a surprise party for her, which includes me cooking a meal for everyone. I want to know what all of you eat so I can make everyone happy.

Made_of_LOVE: That's very sweet.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: I want her birthday to be special. She deserves it.

Centipeetle: can I help?

Sink-the-DINK: Hey Centi, wanna hang out with me and some of the others tonight? We're going to a party!

Centipeetle: yes please I would like that a lot!

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Oh Nephrite of course you can help, you know we love having you around.

Centipeetle: oh thank you Pearl! I won't let you down!

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: :^)

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond- Diamond Residence

She had barely slept last night, her head was filled those... Pictures. That's what she called them. Every time she tried to sleep she could see them, Lapis' smile, her soft hair, her sweet scent, and those beautiful eyes...

The blonde groaned, _'What is wrong with me? She's my best friend, and Miss Diamond would kill me if she knew!'_ Peridot thought to herself. Her thoughts slammed to a halt however when freezing cold water was dumped onto her small body.

"Morning Dotty!" Limone chirped, "Mom texted me telling me to wake you up. She's at work right now so I'm in charge!" She announced proudly, Peridot looked up at her older sister while she shivered.

"W-what was t-that for?" She asked through chattering teeth, her sister shrugged. Limone had done this so many times now, Peridot didn't know why she bothered asking anymore.

"Because I felt like it. Bitch about it and I'll tell mom you're being rude."

"Clod." Peridot muttered under her breath only to be splashed again, she let out a sharp cry. "H-hey!"

"You know mom doesn't like that word. I'll tell her you said it." Limone said with a smug smile. Peridot's blood ran cold.

"N-no! Please no! Limone p-please don't tell Miss Diamond, I'll do whatever you want j-just PLEASE don't tell her!"

Limone sat on Peridot's bed and put a finger under her chin as if pretending to think. "Hmm... I don't think I should lie to mom when she asks if you broke rules... I don't think I'll be able to change my mind unless..."

"U-unless what?" Peridot asked, she was on her knees on the floor now, her glasses on. She'd put her contacts in too when she got to the bathroom. Limone didn't like her eyes, Miss Diamond said they made her look like even more of a freak, so she'd mercifully given the young blonde coloured contacts and yellow-tinted glasses.

"Unless of course... You want to do something for me?" Limone pulled a paper out of the pocket of her pale yellow short-shorts, so she knew this would happen and planned for it. Great.

She unfolded the paper and put it in front of Peridot's face, it was a list of assignments she didn't want to do. An English essay, a movie review for something Peridot had never watched (which meant having to sit with her sister and listen to that grating high-pitched voice describe the movie for hours), and a history essay along with two math papers.

"Limone this is way too much! I want to play with my friends!" Peridot whimpered when her big sister rose from her spot, still holding the paper in Peridot's face.

"I'm sorry, what was it you said earlier?" She said with a harsh glare directly into Peridot's eyes. Her face was so close the younger girl could see her faint freckles. Yella didn't have freckles, so they must have come from Limone's father. (Otherwise known as He-Who-Must-Never-Be-Named-Near-Yella)

"I'll do it..." Peridot muttered, Limone dropped the paper onto her lap.

"Good. And really you shouldn't even be hanging out with those people, they're dirty." She hissed, but Peridot didn't know what that meant.

Peridot tilted her head in confusion at those words. "What does that mean?"

Limone rolled her bright hazel eyes, "It means they're poor, vulgar, and that street dog you call a best friend is a bitch!"

The blonde glared at her older sister, she had no right to talk about Lapis that way, especially when it wasn't true! "Shut up, she is not!"

"She is so! Not to mention an absolute slut!" Limone growled at her as Peridot stood up fully. Though her big sister had bullied her all her life, and terrified the tiny blonde, Peridot wouldn't let her say such things about her crush.

"SHE IS NOT!"

Her sister's eyes widened before she shoved Peridot into the wall. "Don't you fucking dare yell at me. You're lucky I won't tell mom, I like watching her scream at you." She whispered as Peridot started to softly cry from hitting the back of her head on the wall. "Oh, I see now... You have a crush on her, don't you? Do everything I say, or I'll tell mom you're in love with a girl."

Peridot felt all forms of hope drain away from her, she'd be her sister's slave. "Yes Limone..."

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli- Big Donut

She sat with her coffee as Smoky and Centi walked into the shop. The two best friends sat with her after grabbing a few donuts. "Hey Lapis." Said Smoky as they put their sweater in a deeper part of the booth. Centi started to eat her donut, she waved to the blue haired girl.

"Hey guys. Centi, I can understand sign language you know. I have a little friend who's mute."

The white haired girl's eyes lit up. 'You can?' She asked. 'Who is your friend?'

Lapis took another sip of her coffee, it was dark and bitter, but she liked it that way. That and she couldn't afford to put anything in it. "You know vice principal Azura?"

Smoky raised an eyebrow. "You mean The Ghost?" They asked, Lapis gave them a slight glare.

"Don't call her that. She's a nice lady, she just doesn't know how to talk to people. She's an introvert." The blue haired girl explained. Azura was her friend, and the main reason Lapis hadn't been expelled. The older woman adored her, and had lied on her files to excuse her behaviour as 'attention seeking due to past neglect'.

Smoky nodded. "Okay, but she's not mute, she talks. How is she related to this?"

Lapis stuck her tongue out at them. "I was getting to that. Well she has this little kid, only like 12 years old, about to turn 13, cutest little thing. But she's mute. I love this kid, so I learned sign language to talk to her."

Centi clapped her hands, there was a huge smile on her face. 'You mean Bella? I know her, I teach her!' The white haired teen signed quickly, Lapis nodded.

"Yeah. But I call her Azul. Weird that she goes by both names." Lapis thought out loud, the others nodded. She loved this coffee shop, it smelled amazing, napkins were free and since the windows were large you could see the ocean. "I mean it's her middle name, but you don't see me going by Alana do you?" Both of the teens shook their heads as Lapis dove back into her thoughts.

Azul was a rather sweet (if not brutally honest) child. She could seem a tad bit eerie with the way she stared at people, but that was only if she didn't know them. Her eyesight was poor as well, which didn't help with the way she watched people so intently. She loved drawing, and had the sweetest little smile, especially if she was showing you something she drew.

Her mother was just as nice. A while ago, Lapis had gotten into a bit of trouble and had been sent to her office.

She still remembered it as if it had been minutes ago. The Hawaiian girl had stepped into the office, her face red with anger. Thought Azura looked at her with such concern though that her fury had melted away.

"Hi Auntie..."

"Lapis, what happened?" Azura had asked.

"Well... Two things." The blue haired girl explained. "One of them was an accident!" She added quickly upon seeing the woman pinch the bridge of her nose and sigh.

"I swear the first thing was an accident. This one kid in my art class, he um, he sneezed. I really don't like this boy, but I didn't mean to say what I said out loud."

Confusion had filled Azura's pale blue eyes. "What did you say?" She asked. Lapis' cheeks turned pink with embarrassment.

"I uh... Might have accidentally said 'shut the fuck up' instead of 'bless you'..."

"Lapis!" Azura scolded her. "How do you accidentally say that?"

"I said sorry. My teacher gave me a really good warning but only because the boy laughed." She said quietly. The tall woman gestured for her to sit down, and she did. "The next was at lunch just now. But she had it coming!"

"Who did you punch?" Azura asked tiredly before adding with a slight smirk. "This time?"

Lapis gave a soft chuckle. "I didn't punch her. Limone was picking on Peridot, calling her names and holding her food above her head, out of her reach..."

Azura nodded, her gaze had softened at the mention of the other two girls. "Yes, Limone is not very nice to her little sister, it's not fair. I'm so glad you're Peridot's friend, my little niece needs someone like you." She said with a smile. Azura could be stubborn like her sisters, a little timid from her past, and maybe due to her social status she could come off as cold-hearted, but by god she was feather soft with children. She seemed to love them. "What did you do with Limone?"

"I um... I poured ice cold water down her shirt... And then they sent me to you." Lapis admitted. "I'm sorry Auntie. I wasn't thinking, I just snapped..."

The white haired woman sighed again. "It's alright Lapis, you did what you thought was right." She said as she put a hand on Lapis' shoulder. "Although you may not want to keep calling me Auntie, especially if you're friends with my favourite niece."

Lapis snorted and giggled. "I only do it because you're my friend! That's something we do in Hawaii. I know you're not my real aunt or anything, but why does it matter?" She asked, Azura gave a knowing little smile.

"She might think you and her are related. Wouldn't that be detrimental to how you feel about her?" She asked, her smile growing. Lapis had let out a squawk as her face flushed red.

"Hey! Not funny Auntie! Not funny at all!" Yella would probably try to get her arrested somehow if she knew how Lapis felt about the blonde. She tried to fight her feelings, but she couldn't change how she felt, and it just kept getting worse... She couldn't help it, the tiny girl was so cute and pretty.

"Oh, I guess you're right. It's not funny." Said Azura very calmly, Lapis felt her blush start to cool down until suddenly the blue eyed woman had a mischievous smirk. "It's hilarious."

TIME SKIP- 6:30 pm

POV SHIFT- Jasper Redimido- Highway through Beach City

The sun was already starting to set, but at least they weren't driving into the sunset today. Jasper was lightly tapping her fingers on the steering wheel of her van. Bismuth sat beside her, listening to the sound of the wind as they drove down the highway. Centi, Smoky, and Sugilite were sitting in the back seat of the silver van.

"That party was fucking awesome." Smoky said as they watched Centi play on her phone. Jasper had no idea how Bismuth had managed to find a college party, let alone get them in to hang around there, but she was proud of her best friend.

Speaking of her best friend, Jasper had been hoping that after high school the rainbow haired teen would be able to live with her and Malachite. Bismuth's parents hated her, not for being bi, but because of her close friendship with Jasper. The white haired girl had the absolute worst luck when it came to the friendship though. Ever since she had turned 12 she'd felt much more than friendship for the wonderful girl beside her.

She jumped a little hearing Sugilite curse from her spot, she'd been quiet for a while. The younger girl couldn't drive yet, so Jasper would be driving her to the dorm building to be with Sardonyx and Opal. "What's the matter Sugi?" Bismuth asked her.

Sugilite muttered something in Spanish, Smoky nodded and sighed. "People keep passing us." They translated, Jasper nodded, she'd noticed that, and if she was honest... It was getting annoying as all hell. "Dude we should be intimidating! You're driving a huge-ass van!"

Jasper rolled her eyes, "Alright, you know what? Next car that tries to pass us, I won't let 'em." She promised, and looked into the rear-view mirror. Sure enough, a small powder blue car was making its way up the highway. Two girls were seated in the front of it, Jasper could feel the evil smile coming along. "Oh look, two hoochies."

From beside her Jasper could hear her crush ask in a very amused voice. "How do you know they're hoochies?" She sounded as if she was trying not to burst into laughter.

"One of them is Peridot's sister."

The teens howled with laughter as Jasper cut the car behind them off, there was an angry sounding, high-pitched 'beep!' that was apparently the horn from behind them. Jasper was almost crying from laughing as she blasted her own horn, which could rival a truck. Sugilite was still speaking in Spanish, but Smoky was laughing too hard to even bother translating it. Centi was giggling and holding her sides, her eyes filled with tears of mirth. Bismuth nearly pounded her fist on the dashboard.

Oh yes, it was an amazing time. That is... Until another sound came clearly to the laughing group, a police siren. "Shit!" Jasper groaned as she checked how fast they were going, they were only a little bit over the speed limit, and the white haired girl was friends with Beach City's police officers... Maybe they could only get away with a ticket?

She pulled the van over, the car behind them doing the same. "Oh god, please don't let them take my van..." She was beginning to freak out, almost crying from panic, she'd never gotten into any trouble driving before. Sugilite spoke up from her spot, her voice filled with confusion.

"Fool, what the hell are YOU crying for? You're not the one drunk with a water bottle full of vodka in her bag, are you?"

In an instant the Fijian girl whipped around. "You've got BOOZE in my car?!" She growled, but the indigo haired teen just rolled her eyes, she was only 16 years old! Jasper herself only 17, and while yes Jasper sometimes drank at home she would never do something like this!

"I told you to slow down didn't I?" Oh Jasper wanted to slam her forehead into the steering wheel, of course Sugilite was mixing up her two languages, she'd probably been saying it earlier but Jasper couldn't understand a word. "But no! Jasper knows everything!"

"Except Spanish..." She muttered and looked at the others, now that her mind was clear she could somewhat smell the alcohol. "Guys, roll down the windows, air out the car!" She hissed at them, they did as told.

The officer walked up to the group of teens and looked at Jasper, he smiled a little at her. "Why hello there Miss Redimido." He looked rather amused seeing her. Jasper gave a nervous smile, she wanted to slide down her seat and hide, this was so embarrassing.

"God I remember when you graduated elementary school, your dad was so proud... Look I hate to do this, but there's two cars involved, I need to see your license and-"

The buff teen was handing him her things before he had even finished. "Yeah uh, okay." She mumbled.

They all watched as he walked over to the smaller car, Bismuth turned to the embarrassed girl. "Hey, he likes you! Maybe if we have some fun, we can get him to let us go, and not take the van, I mean we still might get a ticket, but he won't take the van, right?" She suggested, Jasper smiled brightly at her crush (and also hoping she wasn't blushing like a dumbass) and looked over at Smoky, who was holding a somewhat frightened Centi.

"Smoky, buddy, do something funny." She said with a grin, they nodded before Jasper turned to Bismuth. "Can you make a few jokes?" She asked, the rainbow haired girl nodded as well. Then Jasper turned to Sugilite. "Hey Sugi?"

"What?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Before anyone could say anything more, the cop walked back up to them with a look of disbelief, "What were you guys even doing?" He asked, a little annoyed, the girls in the other car must have said something.

But Jasper couldn't answer, a certain girl in the back had answered for her. "Fool, she was testing the suspension!"

Jasper wanted to reach back there and slap her. _'Oh this drunk is gonna get us all arrested!'_ She thought to herself, but looked up at the officer. "Uh, my friend Sugilite... She's really tired, she says stupid things all the time to get me in trouble, she's the kinda friend who would get you in trouble but then go 'but it was funny right?'."

The cop looked tired, "Whatever you say Jasper." He smiled slightly went back to his car and started checking her things, scanning them in a small computer within the car. The white haired girl groaned and buried her face in her hands.

Her eyes widened upon seeing Sugilite lean out the window, she should've brought duct-tape. "Hey officer! How is your wi-fi even working?! I don't even have one bar!"

The Fijian teen was about to shout when she heard faint laughter coming from the police officer behind her. He had a bright smile, her joke may have been bad, but it made him laugh. "Guys, guys keep going!" Bismuth cheered, the rainbow haired girl began to dig through Jasper's CD case. "Where is it?" She asked, starting to snicker.

"Where's what?"

"The CD you have with the theme song to Cops! I know you have it, you big dork." Jasper blushed at her words and pulled out the CD, quickly putting it in the disk player. "Alright, when I say now, you play it, okay?" Bismuth asked before peeking out the window. "Play it, Jazzy."

The group started to laugh again as the song played at full volume, making the girls in the other car shriek from the sudden noise. But that wasn't the best part. The best part was that the officer began to walk towards them, with his steps matching the beat of the song. The teens began to sing along, with Smoky waving their arm out the window as if they were at a rock concert.

"Turn it off!" He shouted as he got close, Jasper may have heard him laughing but she muted the song faster than she had done anything in years.

Centi, who could barely see what was going on, was signing rapidly from her seat in the back, Jasper somewhat understood. 'We're fucked.'

"That had to be... The stupidest but funniest damn thing I have ever been a part of." He said to their surprise as the girls in the other car drove away. "Do you know how hard it is to give two bratty teenage girls a ticket while listening to Cops?!" Jasper shook her head with a nervous smile, she didn't have the money to pay off a ticket, but at least it seemed like he wouldn't take her car. "You can go."

Bismuth took a sharp breath in, none of them had actually expected that to work that well. "No ticket? You sure?" She asked.

The cop shook his head and gave a firm 'no'. Jasper would never know what force drove her to look up at him and ask, "Why? How come the girls got one?"

He shook his head and patted her shoulder. "Because they couldn't make me laugh. My day's been hell, but that? That was the best thing I've ever seen, kid. Have a nice day, stay safe."

He started to stroll back to his car, Jasper wanted to cry with relief. That is until... Of course...

"Hey officer!? Does this mean I can keep my booze?!"

Now Jasper wanted to just cry in general. The officer stormed back to the car, now looking dead serious. "You wanna say that again?" He asked, Jasper tried to answer for her, that it was just an inside joke, but before she could get even a word in the indigo haired girl spoke again.

"Ooh, I'm SO scared." She taunted, Jasper turned to her and shook her hands right at the younger girl's face, trying to get her to shut up.

The clink of metal made her blood run cold. Sugilite seemed to realize now that the joke was over, because the officer was holding up handcuffs. "A-are you serious?" She the look on her face was priceless, her dark eyes wide and her mouth open a little as if to say more, but no words were coming up.

The officer gave a gentle smile. "No, but it was funny right?" He asked, and they began to chuckle a little remembering what Jasper had said earlier.

Boy would she have a story to tell Malachite when she got home. She'd make sure to drop Sugilite off first.

POV SHIFT- Malachite Tossico- Redimido/Tossico Residence

She waved at her dog as she gently twisted around on her bar. The white haired teen was hanging onto it by one of her knees, her movements slow but relaxing, she may have been surrounded by bars but when she was on them she felt as free as a bird.

Malachite bent into an upwards position, the cool air on her legs giving her goosebumps as a song played on her phone on a nearby table. She closed her eyes and sang along with one of its lines. "Can anybody hear me I am hidden underground..." She sang softly, Biggs looked up at her and wagged her tail.

Malachite had been Biggs' owner ever since she was a puppy, had practically raised her. Biggs was part mastiff, but that was all that was known. The dog was definitely huge, with soft, fluffy beige fur that covered her eyes half the time. Biggs may not have been the smartest dog, but she was loving and sweet, and with patience Malachite had managed to teach her some tricks. The tall girl had a bit of a gift with animals, and NO she was not a Disney princess.

It was odd to be at peace in such an odd position, doing gymnastics in her white tank top and panties in the basement of her house listening to Melanie Martinez, but she was an odd girl.

There was a knock at the door, Jasper had gotten home about 10 minutes ago, and had told Malachite a very... Interesting story. She could hear her sister call for her. "Mala get dressed and get the door!"

"Why? You're in the living room!"

"Crazy Lace is laying on me!"

Forest green eyes rolled as Malachite groaned and lowered herself to the ground, as graceful as silk in the breeze. She slipped her pants back on and drank half her water bottle in one gulp. The tall girl walked up the stairs and opened the door only to be taken completely aback.

Right in front of her was Alex Andrite. "Hey." Alex said coolly, Malachite didn't say anything back, just nodded at her. They'd been talking a little lately, but it was casual 'how is everything' chatter, she'd never actually done anything with her first new friend.

Malachite squeaked awkwardly as Biggs bumped her leg by accident, she had to put her hands on the door frame to prevent herself from falling into the taller girl. Alex took one look at Biggs and grinned. "She's adorable, can I pet her?"

The white haired girl nodded. "S-sure go right ahead." She mumbled, cursing herself internally for stuttering. She watched the teal haired teen kneel down and start to scratch behind Biggs' ears, who was panting and seemed to be smiling.

"Look I don't mean to be rude, but either go outside or come in fully, the sun is coming through the glass door and blinding me." Jasper growled from her spot on the couch, Crazy Lace lying on top of her, fast asleep. Her white fur had spots of ginger on it, and just like her sister it was long and thick.

"Alexandrite?" She asked, the taller girl stood up again to look at her. Malachite hated her sunglasses, her eyes looked beautiful, why would she hide them? "I have to take Biggs for a walk, wanna come with me?"

The multiracial girl nodded, and stepped outside. Malachite hooked Biggs onto her leash and turned to look at her big sister. "Not. One. Word." She hissed, Jasper snickered.

The tattooed girl stepped out, shivering at the freezing autumn air hitting her arms. "Oh, you're cold!" Alexandrite said, looking at her with concern. "Here, you can have my coat, I don't need it."

Malachite's blush darkened, but she took the turquoise coat from her and put it on. It was a little bit big for her, but it smelled sweet, like almonds and cherries. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it Mallie." The older girl said with a soft smile. Malachite almost stumbled and choked on her own breath. Nobody called her that except her sister or Lapis, and that was it.

What the hell was wrong with her? She was supposed to be intimidating, terrifying! She was Malachite, ferocious, fierce, a monster who would destroy everyone and everything around her!

So why did Alexandrite seem to turn her into a mess? She felt as if she didn't have feet, but awkward hands that would only cause her to look foolish in front of the pretty teen.

The two walked in a peaceful silence as the leaves fell in lazy circles around them, drifting slowly through the gentle breeze that carried the faint scent of a campfire. Malachite was filled with a childish giddiness as she handed Biggs' leash to Alexandrite (who knelt down again to pet her) and ran forward to kick through a large leaf pile. She giggled happily, fall was her favourite season for this exact reason, it was fun, it wasn't too hot or cold, Halloween existed (and that was her favourite holiday of all time, hands down) and the general feel of everything.

She was giggling like a child, having far too much fun to care if Alexandrite saw her this way. She turned as the last of the leaf pile was demolished to look at her friend. The tall girl was sitting cross-legged and pretending to whisper things to Biggs, who sat perfectly still as she munched on a twig. Alex looked at the dog and smiled, Malachite noticed that she wasn't wearing her sunglasses, her white eyes were filled with amusement. "Cute?"

"Yeah, I've had her since she was a pup-"

"Yeah, Malachite is the cutest." Alexandrite interrupted her, still looking at Biggs. It occurred to the white haired teen that she hadn't been talking about the dog at all, especially when she could see the hint of a smirk on the teal haired teen's face.

Oh she was so screwed.

TIME SKIP- 6:59

She returned home, flustered and frustrated beyond belief. She let Biggs off of her leash and went downstairs, not waving to Jasper, who was watching a show on her laptop. Something about a half-human girl and her three alien dads that apparently was much deeper than it looked. Nora Galaxy, or something like that? Whatever.

Malachite also didn't bother with taking off her pants to do her gymnastics, she was so desperate to calm down it was making her mind fuzzy. Images flew through her head every single time she tried to do anything. White eyes, concealed by those damnable sunglasses, teal hair that seemed to glow in the fading light, and the faint hint of cherries...

She'd been so lost in thought, that she hadn't noticed her grip slipping. She had also forgotten that Jasper would be heating up either leftovers or a simple pizza for them to eat, and that it was her choice. She hadn't even noticed her older sister calling for her to choose until her voice rose to a shout. "MALACHITE!"

She shrieked in surprise, not expecting the sudden noise when she had been trying to slip into her own little world. There was silence for a moment as her hands let go of the highest bar.

Then a sickening crack as she hit the floor.


	10. The Second Secret

**AN: The current date is still October 9th. Warning for not only verbal abuse but also self-harm.**

PERIDOT5XG: HELLO EVERYONE, I HAD A LOT OF WORK TO DO TODAY, AND I APOLOGIZE FOR MY ABSENCE.

HappyCat: It's fine, I just finished with homework too, I so regret taking music again...

keepittogether: god I am so fucking tired, I feel like I could sleep for three days

purple_PUMA: we're having a small party over here and GUESS WHO JOINED US?

don't_lapiss_me_off: hey guys. Yeah I joined them. We're eating candy this is fuckin great

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: please come to the hospital my baby sister's hurt

keepittogether: On my way.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: Oh my god! Same here!

don't_lapiss_me_off: I'm coming with them what happened?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: she fell off her gymnastics stuff and something cracked and she was laying so still I called 911

HappyCat: Aqua and I live near the hospital we'll be there soon okay? We'll bring some food because if it could be a while

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: ok

PERIDOT5XG: I'M ON MY WAY! MY MOM LET ME GO I JUST HAVE TO WALK.

keepittogether: I'm here, where are you?

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: just down the hall I see you

POV SHIFT- Jasper Redimido- Beach City Hospital

Ever since she had dialled 911 into her phone, the white haired girl couldn't stop shaking. The image of her sister laying deathly still on the floor, pale from shock, barely making a whimper, Biggs sniffing her twisted leg as Jasper fell to her knees and took out her cellphone...

Her dad was still working, he always was. Jasper had tried calling but he hadn't picked up, she'd called Bismuth's house, and her crush had quietly agreed to hurry over. That was when she had messaged the others, she may not have got along with all of them, but they were the closest thing she had to family.

Alexandrite ran down the hall, frightening a few people who weren't used to seeing a 6'9 teal haired teenager run down the hall of the hospital. "Where is she?" The tall girl asked when she came up to Jasper, the white haired teen pointed to a closed door before burying her face in her hands. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was all her fault. "Oh god... Jasper it'll be okay, I can feel it."

"I just wish I hadn't have yelled, then we wouldn't be here... Hell we can't pay her bills as it is..." She murmured, Alexandrite put a gentle hand on her back and patted her. "Malachite's all I've got."

Alex nodded and leaned back with a long, shaky sigh. It was currently 7:50 and there was still no sign of anything happening. This was going to be a long night.

Lapis was the second to arrive. She and the blue haired girl didn't get along at all. Their personalities clashed too harshly, and they loved the feeling of arguing with one another. However there was one thing they agreed on.

They both loved Malachite.

Quickly behind her was Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. And Rose. They all chattered nervously and looked at the door while Lapis just slid down the wall to sit on the floor, her hands were shaking. "What's the matter ass? Had to go into a car?" Jasper teased, she knew the blue haired girl freaked out pretty much every time she had to go into a vehicle, even more-so at night. Jasper could still remember Lapis screeching to not go into her car.

"Fuck off." She muttered, and more teens started to join them. Soon enough almost everyone in there group sat huddled in the hallway, making sure to stay out of people's way and keeping quiet.

She heard Ruby's voice from just a little ways away, she was sitting a couple of seats from the Fijian girl. "Hey Jasper?" She asked, "What... Happened?" The white haired girl turned to her friend and sighed.

"So you guys all know how Mala does gymnastics, right?" She started, Rainbow nodded.

"Where there any mats under her?" The Canadian teen asked, her bright blue eyes wide. Jasper nodded and chuckled softly.

"Yeah there were mats, we're teenagers but we're not stupid. So we were going to have dinner, I was upstairs and she was just... Y'know, doing her thing. All we had for dinner tonight was leftovers, either that or we order a pizza. S-so I called to her, to ask what she wanted, she didn't respond to me though. So I raised my voice and... I guess I scared her, because she fell from her highest bar... There was a crack..." Jasper's voice trailed off and she felt a hand on her knee.

Lapis was looking up at her. "She'll be okay. Was anything noticeably..." She averted her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. "B-broken?"

Jasper shrugged, "Her leg was twisted..." The tall girl wanted to scream, to ask why this had to happen to her sister. It wasn't fair, Malachite hadn't done anything to deserve this... The worst part is that Jasper hadn't even bothered telling their father, it wouldn't have made much of a difference anyway. They didn't have the money for Malachite's hospital bill, they were already hard pressed for money.

After another 15 minutes Peridot joined them. The young blonde looked terrified as she quickly made her way over to them, she was shivering badly in her hoodie, shorts and long socks. "Oh goodness Peridot you look chilled to the bone!" Sardonyx cried, but the tiny girl shook her head.

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli

The blue haired girl looked at her crush, shaking and looking around as if looking for an exit. "I don't like hospitals..." Peridot murmured, "And I really don't like doctors..."

Lapis outstretched her arms. Peridot saw her and immediately hugged her. "Oh Lapis I'm so sorry... I wanted to message you today but I had way too much work, and I'm really sorry if I missed anything today." She heard the Greek girl try to speak through her shirt, since her face was partially buried in Lapis' shoulder.

Jasper spoke up from where she sat. "Easy there, we know you're part of the 'I'm so gay it hurts' council." Lapis gave her the finger and patted her crush's back.

"It's fine Per-bear, you didn't miss anything. I was just worried that's all." She swore she became so soft whenever the younger girl was around! "We're just waiting for some news on Malachite."

Peridot nodded and looked up (very up, god she was tiny) at Jasper. "I'm really sorry about what happened. Are you okay?" She asked. Cat, who'd held her word and brought food, handed her a small donut, the blonde took it and scarfed it down. Guess she was pretty hungry.

"Me? Yeah I'm... Oh god..." Jasper ran a hand through her long hair and sighed. "I'm worried." She admitted. Bismuth was right beside her, patting her arm, Lapis knew the two buff girls liked each other a lot.

All the teens turned around upon hearing hearing a male voice clearing his throat. Peridot wiggled around in the blue haired girl's lap though, as Lapis had only turned her head. "Can't see! I'm too short!" She wiggled up from her half-sitting half-laying down position.

A very rightfully bewildered man was standing near them, clipboard in hand with a very startled look in his blue-green eyes. Lapis smiled and snickered. "What's the matter? Never seen a flock of gay girls and one straight guy?" She asked jokingly, and the doctor started to laugh a tiny bit.

"No, can't say I have. Um, which one of you is Jasper?" He asked, searching through the group. Said white haired girl stood up and walked up to him. "Your sister is going to be just fine, however her right leg is broken, her right wrist is cracked and so is one of her ribs." He spoke quietly, and Jasper let out a long sigh. "She's okay right now, just tired. I suggest since it's getting late maybe you could stay the night? Would that be okay with your parents?"

It took them all a few seconds to realize that the doctor was talking to all of them. "Well I know Rainbow and I can stay." Smoky spoke up from the back. "And I mean c'mon, it's Saturday, who's gonna need a bunch of teenagers on Sunday? It's not like we have anywhere to be."

They all started to nod. Lapis watched as Alexandrite stood up from her spot, and gasped when the teal haired girl walked up to the doctor. Alex was 6'8, this man was as tall as her. If there was a time Lapis felt tiny this was it. "Can we see Malachite?" Alexandrite asked, and the brown haired man nodded.

The teenagers all started to get up from where they sat. Lapis handed Opal the box of donuts they had all been passing around. Only a few had been eaten, they were waiting to see if Malachite was going to be okay. The Hawaiian girl also bounced her leg a little bit to try to keep a very sleepy Peridot awake.

"Wake up Hoaloha, no sleeping yet. It's only 8:30, don't tell me you have a bedtime." The swimmer teased, and Peridot's face turned a dark shade of red.

"I do not, I'm just... Lulled to sleep more easily than most people." She huffed, and after getting up stretched with an adorable cat-like yawn. She scrunched up her face upon hearing Lapis snort. "Shush, I'm not cute."

She was adorable.

POV SHIFT- Malachite Tossico

She watched with wide eyes as her friends entered her room. Jasper came straight up to her bed, eyeing the cast on her leg as well as the sling her arm was in. "You okay sis?"

Malachite nodded. "Yeah I'm fine. Side hurts like a bitch, and I think they kinda had to put my shoulder back in its socket, but yeah..." She gave her older sister a crooked smile. "I'm okay." She told her, before adding in a very quick, "Please don't hug me."

Her older sister laughed, and she could see the relief in those amber eyes. "Thank god. If you're hungry we uh... We brought donuts and some cookies." Jasper told her, and Malachite blushed when her stomach growled.

The white haired girl glared at her friends, who were snickering. "Oh shut it, I haven't eaten dinner." She hissed, and watched them all shuffle around to try and figure out which one of them had food. Malachite swore her heart stopped upon seeing who had worked her way to the front after taking the box from Opal.

Alex Andrite. "Hey Mala, I'm glad to see you're okay. Here." She had a patient smile and her sunglasses were hanging on her shirt, her white eyes filled with not only exhaustion, but a touch of happiness.

The tall girl grabbed two cookies and ate them quickly. "Lot better than the food they tried to give me. I hate hospital food." She grumbled, all too aware of the fact that she was blushing quite a bit. Alexandrite nodded.

"Me too."

Now Malachite looked around the room. All of her friends were here, and so late too, all just to make sure she was okay... She was not going to cry, but she supposed she must have looked rather pitiful when she lowered her head and asked in a very shaky voice, "Guys? C-could you... Stay the night? Please?" She asked her friends shyly.

"Hang on." Jasper told her, and stepped closer. "Mala," She spoke softly, "We can't afford this..."

"Um, actually?" Lapis spoke up, Malachite immediately brightened up upon hearing the voice of her tutor. "I know someone who can help us." She walked out of the room, and the teens started to look amongst each other.

"Uh, isn't Lapis like, super poor?" Smoky raised their voice, "I mean good for her if she's got extra saved up or something like that, but that's kinda weird."

Before the conversation could continue, the doctor came back into the room. Malachite liked him, he was rather nice to her. She made sure to look at the tag on his coat. Dr. J. Redfox. He showed her a refilled bottle of pills, since her last one had been used up. "Here you are Miss Tossico." He said and placed into her bag, the bag that Jasper had brought in with a few things.

"Thanks." She replied, and Lapis came back into the room. "Lapis what's going-"

"No need to worry Mala, I've got it all covered." She was grinning excitedly, Lapis pulled a chair up to sit with the others, who were crowding around her bed, and began to have her share of treats with them.

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond

She sat with her friends, who were happily chatting around her, as the doctor wrote something in his clipboard. Peridot had no love for doctors, she hated them and everything about a hospital in general. She glanced over at her crush, her fingers were covered in the powder and she was smiling at some joke Sugilite had told that Peridot... Didn't quite get.

Amethyst had just shrugged and said, "You'll get it when you're older." Prompting a hiss from the blonde.

The sound of heels came up the hallway, her heart felt like it had frozen over. She hated the sound of heels, because the person who often came with them had forever carved scars into the young girl's mind, along with her back. "Azul, stay close please." A soft voice could be heard from the hallway.

Aunt Azura?

Peridot turned around in her seat, confused beyond belief. Her aunt was standing in the doorway, little Azul by her side (although Peridot also like to call her Bella) with her long dark blue coat hanging over her arm and her classic blue dress that went down to her ankles and fluttered with every quick step she took. "Hello?"

The doctor looked over at her, "I'm sorry miss, do you um... D-do you need something?" He looked at her, watching intently as she walked in, still holding Azul's hand, Peridot had to admit her aunt was rather pretty.

Azura let go of Azul, who went to Peridot and signed a very quick 'Hello.'

"Lapis called me here, she asked if I could help with Malachite, I hear the poor thing's medical bill is rather high and... I want to help." She explained, and her nodded nervously. "I have the money in cash you know, I could just pay it right now, if that's okay?"

The brunette smiled at her, "Yes that's fine. I'll just hand it over to..." He yawned a bit, "Sorry, I've had to work for a while now... Anyway, it's just fine."

Peridot watched her aunt, cast a sympathy filled glance over at Malachite, and hand over quite a bit of money. "Is she alright?" The blue haired woman asked.

"She'll be okay, a broken leg, cracked wrist and rib, but okay." He told her, "I did most of the work, and I can assure you she'll be just fine sooner than you think."

Azura stared at him, "She seems happy. I heard from the front desk that you specialize in children... And would it be out of line to ask if, should anything happen to these children, would you be able to help? I would pay for everything, every time." She promised. The hospital wasn't very big, Peridot had seen this doctor running around everywhere.

"Oh um... That seems fine, I guess." He mumbled, and the blonde watched Azura write something down on a small piece of paper she had taken out of her coat pocket.

"Here." She said, "My business number, call me should any of these children need help."

The doctor blushed as the teens started nudging each other and giggling like 12 year olds who'd heard the word 'butt'. Even Azul was smiling, actually... Maybe Peridot shouldn't have made the analogy, Azul was 12. Oops.

Her aunt said a goodbye, took Azul's hand and walked out, murmuring to her daughter that it was about time she got to bed. Peridot grimaced at how late it was getting, Miss Diamond would be expecting a call soon, or at least something.

"I'll be right back." She told her friends, a few of them stood up, Lapis included.

"Same, I gotta wash my hands, and face." She explained, and Peridot gave a breathy laugh seeing that her crush had gotten powder all over herself.

The Greek-Canadian girl walked down the hall and out the front door, she had no clue if calling her mother inside the hospital was a good idea, so she'd do it out here. She dialled the number and waited.

"What the hell do you want?" Her mother's voice hissed. Peridot shivered, and not from the cold.

"My friend wants me t-to-"

"Stop with that fucking stutter!" Yella shouted at her through the phone, and the tiny girl had to fight to not flinch. Her adopted mother did not like her flaws.

"Yes Miss Diamond." She made sure to keep her voice from quivering. "I'm still at the hospital, and I was wondering if I could stay the night."

There was a long sigh. "Just get the fuck away from me, you ungrateful little bitch." Click.

Peridot felt tears start to well up in her eyes. Why was she so hated? It wasn't her fault... Was it? She sniffled and choked back a sob. The blonde quickly made her way back into the hospital, avoiding the prying eyes that stared at the little blonde about to cry.

She headed straight into the bathroom, where Lapis had gone in.

Peridot, for as long as she lived, would never forget what she saw. She had stopped tearing up at the sight, but the image would be burned into her forever. Lapis was standing there at the sinks, face now washed with her bright blue eyes wide, because her sleeves had been rolled up to wash her hands, and Peridot could see her bare arms for the first time.

Lapis' left arm was covered in scars.

 _ **AN: Remember to Comment and tell me how you feel.**_


	11. Start Of Something New

_**AN: Warning for self harm, please comment what you guys are thinking, reviews are a big motivation factor! I'm sorry this is so short, but the next chapter will be awesome! The date is still October 9th.**_

Lapis backed up a few steps, staring at her crush in horror. She knew she would eventually have had to tell the blonde, but not like this... The blue haired girl felt her back hit the bathroom wall and she slid down it. Peridot took a hesitant step towards her. "C-can I sit with you?" She asked softly, Lapis nodded and after a few moments that seemed to last for hours, held out her arm.

She hated it, every day regretting her choice to do that, even if the voice in the back of her mind told her she deserved it. Peridot's small arms wrapped around her. "I haven't done it in months, and I don't want to do it again... I need help Peri, I don't want to slip again..." She cursed herself hearing her own voice break, and Peridot's hug tightened. "I was alone for so long, no friends or anything..."

"I'll stay with you. You're my best friend, Lapis. I wouldn't judge you over this, but PLEASE tell me of you need help, I'll be here for you, I promise I will." She could hear the blonde's gentle words, and tears pricked in her eyes. Lapis started to shake, a sob came up from her chest as she let herself be held in Peridot's arms. "Shh, it's okay, I've got you. You matter to me, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, you're not alone anymore, I'll always be your friend. I promise."

The blue haired girl gave a soft, dry laugh. "I'm so fucked up... How would you actually want to be friends with a piece of shit like me?" Immediately after she said it she heard Peridot gasp slightly.

"Hey! You're my best friend!"

"I do so many bad things... I drink, I lie to people, I've hurt people... For god's sake I lied on my own resume just for money!" She explained, and Peridot tilted her head.

"Have you ever lied to me?" She asked, Lapis waved her hand a bit.

"Kinda, there's some things I'm just... Not ready to talk about yet. I'm sorry. You're the person I'm most honest with though." She told her, tears starting to finally dry, she felt bad for getting the tiny girl's shirt wet. "In case you wondered what I lied about on my resume... I said I'm happy, and outgoing, stuff like that."

"You're a waitress right?" She asked, ever so slightly amused. "Does your boss know?"

Now the blue haired girl was smiling, Peridot always had that effect on her. "She figured it out after a while, she overheard me saying that if I had to hear the words 'I'd like to speak to the manager' one more time I was gonna lose it. The big reason I kept my job is because she knew my financial situation, and took pity on me."

Peridot nodded. The two girls stood up, Lapis dusted off her clothes and combed out her hair with the tiny comb in her pocket. "You know Lapis, if you need help, I might be able to sneak some money to you, or at least buy food for you at school so you don't have to spend money there. Anything for you."

The blue haired teen smiled at her, and ruffled her messy hair. "You're the best, you know that?"

She watched Peridot's face turn a nice shade of pink. "I um, I try!" She chirped. Lapis hugged her tightly. "Oh, thank you." She heard Peridot murmur, the younger teen loved any and all forms of affection, it was like she was starved of it.

The two teens walked out of the bathroom, tiny beds had been moved into Mala's room, many of their friends already in them. Pearl and Amethyst had cuddled together, Rose and Greg, Centi and Smoky, Ruby and Sapphire, all of them had squeezed into beds together. Lapis crawled into the last one, and after coaxing the blonde from shyness she had joined her, curled up in the older girl's arms. Lapis was so grateful for Peridot, her absolute best friend.

The Hawaiian girl smiled as a soft warm feeling spread through her chest. "Thanks... Koʻu aloha."

The blonde's eyes clouded with confusion, her brows furrowed. "What's that mean?"

Lapis didn't like lying to her crush... "It means... Best friend."

She lied.

TIME SKIP- 6:30am

POV SHIFT- Rose Quartz

She sat on the bed, being as quiet as possible. A plate of fruit in the pink haired teen's hands served as a breakfast. The hospital staff were quite kind to her, and had given her breakfast. The others were fast asleep, most cuddling together, Greg had been with her through the night, she was trying REALLY hard not to wake him.

The two had been chatting a little through notes in class (Rose sat right in front of a teacher, phones were a no-go), telling awful puns, sharing funny stories, and for some reason, talking about all the weird things people did.

Rose was just about to start eating when Greg suddenly moved, spooking the Italian and making her jump a little. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you Rose." He said politely, the taller of the two frowned a little bit.

"No, it's fine. Did I wake you up? I'm sorry if I did." She told him, but the brunette shook his head.

"No, I'm a really light sleeper, sometimes I wake up for no reason." he explained and looked around at their sleeping friends. "What time is it?"

Quickly, Rose checked her phone. "About 6:40." She answered, and Greg seemed to wince. "I know, early..."

"That's about the time I have to get up to get ready for school." He told her, and she nodded, it was around the time she got up too, Rose liked to make breakfast for her dorm-mates as a way to show she loved them.

"You know, if you want any of the fruit I have, you can have some. I'm never too hungry in the mornings, but I really can't go back to sleep." She admitted, Greg reached out and grabbed an orange slice. "It's so... Quiet." Rose whispered, and smiled at the sight of her sleeping friends, all of them looking so peaceful, from the normally chaotic Malachite, to the hyper Nephrite, to the ever anxious Aqua. All of them now breathing slowly, curled up with eyes gently shut.

Rose loved them all so much.

A soft groan came from the other side of the room, Rainbow must have moved in her sleep and pushed her blanket away by accident. She was probably a bit chilly, Rose knew that the tall teen couldn't sleep well when she was cold.

Greg got up from his spot, half-eaten orange slice still in one hand, and pulled Rainbow's blanket back over her. "There you go." He muttered, and the Canadian girl settled once again. "Y'know Rose, we're kinda like the Mom Friend and Dad Friend of the group."

"Yeah, I mean who else is going to keep these guys from running around like headless chickens?" She joked along with him and they laughed silently. "Speaking of watching over... I have babysitting tonight, and... I was wondering if you could help me? The parents are fine with me having a friend over, I just need someone my age to talk to while the kids sleep."

Greg scratched under his chin for a moment. "Well, if you promise to help me with a little bit of history homework I'm all yours." The brunette said with a smile.

Rose suppressed the urge to laugh. "Oh come on, history isn't that hard when you actually pay attention. Or are you just looking for more ways to talk to me?" The tall girl said half-jokingly, and her friend blushed.

"I... I like seeing my friends. It's always nice talking to you." He told her. "Hey uh, Rose?"

She glanced up at him, his smile had faded, warm brown gaze filling with worry. "Are you okay? You want to make everyone else happy, but... Do you remember to do good things for YOU?"

Okay, that... Caught her off guard. Rose stuttered a bit, unsure of what to say. "I... I do. It's hard sometimes but... I guess." She said softly, listening to the peaceful little snores of her friends. The truth was... Rose hadn't been happy in years.

TIME SKIP- 4 days later, October 13th.

POV SHIFT- Bismuth Burkhart

"Psst."

She looked up, Jasper was watching her. Bismuth sat behind the white haired girl for their science class, it was so nice to be able to sit with her closest friend. Well, one of her closest, Amethyst sat beside her. "What's wrong Jas?"

She looked a bit awkward. "I uh... Just wanted to ask, after class since school's out do you want to come to my place? I could use some help since my sister's outta commission." She explained before adding "And... Well it's been a while since last time you've come over. I've got some new movies we can watch too, or we can play games."

Bismuth smiled brightly, "Sure, sounds like a plan. I'll tell my parents I'm going to Centi's. They like her, and never question anything." She said casually, but her smile fell when she saw Jasper frown. "I know, I know, I hate them too. That's why I can't wait to move out."

The rainbow haired girl's parents couldn't STAND Jasper. They didn't give a damn about their daughter's sexuality, but they hated her best friend with a burning passion. Bismuth didn't know if it was because Jasper was pansexual, or had a slight attitude, or maybe it was the white marks on her skin from her vitiligo, but they didn't like her at all.

They never allowed Jasper over to her house, they didn't let Bismuth go to Jasper's house either. In her youth, Bismuth could go so long without seeing Malachite that they had a little inside joke, since often it had been so long since she'd seen the younger girl she could look totally different. Dyed hair, tattoos, keeping her glasses off...

 _'Hey there! So you're Malachite huh? Don't you have babies to be scaring or something?'_

That was their joke, Mala liked it, she thought it was funny.

In a way... Bismuth didn't.

She sighed, Jasper had gone back to work. The tall girl looked over at Amethyst, who was looking through pictures of dogs on her phone. She smiled, Amethyst liked dogs, well... All animals really, she wanted a pet badly, even though she lacked money. Amethyst had dreams.

'BANG!'

They all jumped, in the back of the class two kids had been blowing up a balloon and let it burst. Bismuth glared at them, at least only for a second. Nearby, behind Bismuth was where Peridot sat. The tiny blonde had screamed in fear, her eyes wide as she shook with a hand over her mouth. Kids were staring at her, snickering and whispering to each other... The teacher was scolding the kids in the back... No one was paying any attention to the now crying teenager.

Bismuth watched in shock as Peridot ran out of class.


	12. Cooldown

_**AN: Warning for a panic attack! Sorry for the wait, I wrote 21 stories in 2 weeks for Lapidot Halloween Week and I had to take a long break to recover. Go check them out! The date for the chapter is October 13th. Remember to go to the blog if you want to talk with me or the characters, and to leave comments if you like it!**_

Okay, what the hell?

Amethyst looked up at Jasper and Bismuth. "Do we follow her?" She asked. Bismuth nodded and slipped out of the room, the teacher still scolding the others for the disruption. Amethyst quickly followed behind at Jasper's heels. There was a reason she had been in their class today. Their teacher had been in an assembly with the grade 11's, and had left the only 2 grade 12's in the cosmetology class to just study in whatever room they wanted. Amethyst had chosen her friends, and Lapis had gone into the cafeteria.

The purple haired girl's head had been swimming since the morning waking up at the hospital. Pearl, the girl she'd had a massive crush on since kindergarten, had slept beside her! Now, they'd had sleepovers before, but Pearl had never been that close! Amethyst was surprised the tall girl hadn't been able to hear her pounding heartbeat as they slept.

Now here was the kicker. Pearl hadn't just laid with her, she had been SPOONING her. Amethyst had woken up with the taller teen's arm around her waist, she'd been pressed against her back, nuzzled into her hair, and Pearl's legs had bent to fit perfectly with the short girl. And they CERTAINLY hadn't fallen asleep like that.

She shoved those thoughts aside though, and focused on searching for her friend. That bang had spooked Peridot beyond belief and had made the blonde run out of the classroom in terror without a word. Sadly, the purple haired teen knew that look in her eyes too well. Panic, blind panic, the kind that made you do stupid things like hurt those you love or run right out onto a road without realizing it.

"Peridot!" Bismuth was calling, "Come on out buddy, it's okay!" The rainbow haired girl groaned. "Where the hell would she go?"

Amethyst shrugged. "Maybe she went to one of the bathrooms?" At that thought her eyes widened. "Oh shit... Do you guys have pads, she might need one if her... Thing started. I know I freak out if I see blood."

Jasper shook her head. "No, all the bathroom lights are off. If she had run in there the motion sensors would have found her and turned on. If Peridot were in a bathroom we would have found her by now."

The shortest of the teens nodded and pulled out her phone, pulling up their group chat.

purple_PUMA: hey uh PERIDOT5XG where the fuck are u? U ok?

I-am-the-ocean's-gay-waves: I just saw her run by my class, is she okay? She looked really scared.

Centipeetle: I've been outside all period and I haven't seen her at all

Icey_U: Check the library or under the stairs. She could be hiding behind bookshelves or under the stairs.

purple_PUMA: thanks. Bis, Jasp and I are looking for her. If you guys can get a hold of Riptide Queen lemme know

Amethyst shut her phone off and shoved it into her pocket. The chubby girl ran after her friends towards the art wing stairs. Soft sniffling filled the air, along with shaky high pitched breath that was clearly hyperventilating. "N-no... No..."

Peridot sat under the stairs, curled up tightly, arms around her abdomen, her eyes screwed shut as she rocked back and forth, a few tears running down her cheeks as she struggled to take deep breaths. The group came up to her slowly, "Easy little buddy." Bismuth murmured.

The blonde looked up at them, her eyes wide in terror. "Please, don't hurt me!" She cried, shaking her head rapidly as her eyes darted from face to face.

"Hey, Peridot it's okay, we're not gonna hurt you, you scared-" Jasper had been speaking, but Amethyst held a hand up to her to stop her. "Amethyst?"

The short teen looked at her. "I've dealt with P's anxiety almost my whole life, you're still learning with Mala. Trust me, I've got this. Okay?" It wasn't a question. The white haired girl shrugged and backed off, leaving Amethyst to her work. She knew how to calm people, she'd been doing it since she was little, it was a special skill she had.

The Canadian girl looked up at her, shaking like a leaf with her quick shallow breathing turning to coughing. "Hey, Peridot? Can you hear me? It's me, Amethyst Prather, your buddy." She told her with a friendly smile. "What's you name?"

Peridot managed to focus on her, Bismuth and Jasper having back off to stop overwhelming her. "P-P-Peridot... O... Diamond. Peridot... Genevieve... D-Diamond."

The (slightly thank the good lord) taller girl nodded at her. "Good. Where are you from?"

The pale girl whimpered. "Athens... Greece. B-But I'm part Canadian t-too..."

Amethyst nodded again. "Okay Peridot, I want you to breathe. In... And out. Can you do that?"

Bad move. Peridot shook her head. "My, m-my chest feels tight, I... I can't breathe!"

The Hispanic girl frowned. "Hey, shh, shh, it's all okay. I know you're scared, but no one is gonna hurt you. Where are you right now?"

It seemed to take a second before the tiny girl answered her. "D... Diamond Academy. In the art wing, because that's where L-Lapis is."

Amethyst nodded again. "Yeah, she likes art, do you like it? You're doing really well P-dot."

Peridot nodded, her breathing starting to slow down a little. "Y-yes. I like art and Lapis."

She felt it was time now. The purple haired girl made sure not to touch the blonde when she raised her hand slowly, her chubby fingers spread to show all 5, which she wiggled. "Okay buddy. I want you to take a nice lil deep breath for me, hold it, and name 5 things that make ya happy."

She watched as the Greek teen took in as deep a breath as she could, shakily holding it while she spoke. "My kitty, s-school, candy, m-movies, games."

Amethyst gave her a big smile. "That's so good, you're doing really good, I promise." She lowered a finger. "Now, what are 4 games you really REALLY like?"

The purple haired teen was happy that Peridot was thinking. The more she could reclaim her mind the more she could calm down. "Slime Rancher, M-Mario, A-Animal crossing... A-and Pokemon." She told Amethyst who nodded and lowered another finger.

"Okay P-dot, now... Tell me 3 kinds of food you like."

The blonde was grounding, thank god. "Pasta, um... Mac and cheese, chicken."

Only 2 fingers were left, Amethyst made sure to keep smiling at her friend as she asked her another question. "Okay buddy, can you tell me the 2 holidays you love the most?"

This answer took the longest, but Peridot did it. "Um... Christmas, and Easter."

Amethyst smiled as she lowered her finger, the last one still pointing in the air as she grinned. "You're doing good. I'm really proud of you. Now, all I want is 1 name, okay? What's the name of someone you love?"

"Lapis."

Amethyst had to pretend not to be surprised. Honestly, she'd called it long ago. "Really? That's amazing. Do you want to talk to her?" She gently lowered her hand, making sure to go nice and slowly, and keep her hand from curling into a fist. She pulled out her phone and placed it on the floor next to Peridot. "Do you want me to call her?"

The blonde shook her head. "I... I want to see her, please?" She asked in a small voice, Amethyst nodded and with her other hand waved Jasper off to go find Lapis. "T-thank you."

Amethyst shook her head. "Anytime, buddy. I like to help scared people."

There was hushed outside the staircase, Jasper was talking. "Okay, so she had a panic attack, Amethyst calmed her down, and now she wants to see you." She must have found Lapis. It wasn't that hard to find her, just find a group of guys who were trying to take pictures of her while she was trying to eat.

The purple haired girl watched as Lapis peeked her head around the corner, slowly moving over to sit cross-legged near Peridot. The blonde girl moved up to her, and hugged her arm. Lapis didn't move a muscle, though she did speak very softly. "Hi Peri, I'm happy to see you. Would you like for me to hug you too?"

The blonde nodded, and Lapis bent a little to put both arms around her. Amethyst smiled watching the two. _'And it looks like the S.S uh... Lapidot is on for smooth waters.'_ She thought to herself. _'I'll make sure it stays that way. Always wanted to help two lovebirds.'_

POV SHIFT- Jade Nephrite

The teen was outside the front of the school, taking in the crisp fall air with a smile before taking a bite of her apple. She sat on a large rock outside the school and kicked her feet a little as the breeze blew through her messy white hair. A soft song hung in the air as the white haired girl sat in silence, her camera beside her, pictures of the scenery taken. She loved fall, it was beautiful in every way.

The song got louder now, Jade lifted her head from her half-eaten apple. Was someone... Singing? Yeah, there had to be somebody playing an instrument! Or maybe just playing music, but either way, she was curious.

Smoky sat at the edge of the school's garden, guitar in their arms and a paper in front of them as they sat cross legged on the dark grey stones. Jade watched, gently moving the beads of her necklace around in her fingers as she watched the black haired teen play. She really liked them, Smoky was one of her first friends, as the two knew each other back in elementary school.

She crept closer, not wanting to interrupt her friend as she listened. Suddenly, Smoky came to a stop only to catch a glimpse of Jade from the corner of their eyes. They gasped a bit, one of their chubby hands on their chest as they yelped loudly.

"Good god, at least cough or somethin! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Smoky yelled as they jumped in their spot. They quickly stopped the music playing on their phone, dark eyes filling with amusement. "Something up buddy?"

The white haired teenager snickered silently, "Sorry about that." She signed, and sat next to her best friend. "You're really good, I could hear you from the front of the school. Are you on spare too?"

Smoky shook their head. "Nah, got outta class early. Miss Agate let me out because I did our test. She's pretty cool about that as long as you don't get into trouble." The Hispanic teen explained. "Holly Blue isn't. So I just came out here to avoid her."

The Indian girl made a grunt noise signalling her dislike for the woman who patrolled the halls making sure students were in class. "She's scary. But if it means I can hear you play guitar, worth it!" She gave Smoky a sweet smile. The older of the two blushed and started to laugh, shaking their head.

"Oh c'mon! I'm not that good!" Said Smoky, bashful about their little skills. Jade had liked it though, she was always a sucker for music. The two started to joke around with one another, laughing and sharing stories, Jade teaching the taller person a bit more sign language, as they were making quite the effort to learn.

The sun was setting now, getting earlier and earlier with each passing day, casting its golden orange light onto the trees and giving the illusion of fire. Smoky yawned, leaning against Jade's shoulder, their soft brown eyes closed, listening to the peaceful autumn breeze. The Indian girl looked at them, and smiled.

She pulled out her phone, and took a picture.

TIME SKIP- 8:00pm

POV SHIFT- Malachite Tossico

Sitting in her room, Malachite sighed. She had nothing to do anymore. She couldn't read her books, couldn't play games or anything. Texting was hard, and she was thankful for her laptop so she could still talk to the others a little, or at least watch the chat.

PERIDOT5XG: HELLO EVERYONE! SORRY I LEFT I HAD TO EAT DINNER.

Icey_U: No, it's fine. We were actually just talking about you.

purple_PUMA: who the hell eats at 8?

PERIDOT5XG: I DO.

I_am_Malachite: hey guys

Centipeetle: hi Mala

I_am_Malachite: what are we talking about?

Like-that-little-man?: the teachers and all that stuff

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: Yeah, because no offence to YOU Peridot, but like how the hell were you and Limone even BORN? Who in their right mind would wanna hit that?

don't_lapiss_me_off: I know, right?! it's weird because she's Azura's TWIN but they look NOOOTHING like each other, Azura is actually legit fucking gorgeous like I WISH I had her body

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: I'd hit that

PERIDOT5XG: EWW NO SHE'S MY AUNT!

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: oh shit

don't_lapiss_me_off: sorry Peri!

Icey_U: I'll be honest, she freaks me out a little, she keeps watching me.

Absolutely-Pearl-fect: I'm sure there's a logical explanation for that, I mean maybe she's just really worried! She does have a little daughter at home, she probably misses her child, and you have the same... Bangs.

Centipeetle: it IS pretty weird that all the blue haired girls I know have something weird with their bangs

don't_lapiss_me_off: are my bangs weird?

What-can-I-do4u: She's also probably worried because you and Ruby are so small! I worry about you guys, short people get picked on a lot.

PERIDOT5XG: NO SHIT.

What-can-I-do4u: I rest my case.

don't_lapiss_me_off: GUYS ARE MY BANGS WEIRD?

I_am_Malachite: yeah but like EVERYONE AND THEIR MOM wants to snuggle with tiny people

PERIDOT5XG: THAT IS TRUE.

keepittogether: And short people are the ones who are taken more interest in, you ever see lesbians wanting to hold a tall girl? Nope, it's always 'man I want her to punch me in the face' like no? I don't want to hit you? What the FUCK?

PERIDOT5XG: THAT IS ALSO TRUE. THOUGH I MYSELF PREFER A TALLER GIRL TO HOLD.

don't_lapiss_me_off: ARE MY MESSAGES EVEN FUCKING SENDING ARE MY BANGS WEIRD OR NOT?!

I_am_Malachite: Peri you rock dude

PERIDOT5XG: THANKS?

purple_PUMA: ugh I have a project due in like 3 days I'm so screwed

don't_lapiss_me_off: OKAY FUCK IT GOODNIGHT I GUESS

Malachite chuckled and shut her computer, placing it on her bedside table. She sighed, there was nothing to do! She checked her phone, which was blinking a soft green, there a new text from Alexandrite.

Alex: Hey, mind if I come over? I heard you're bored, I could help you, and... I'm kinda lonely.

Malachite: is that something dirty?

Alex: NO

Malachite: lol gotcha

Alex: You're a dick sometimes.

Malachite: you coming or not?

Alex: Yeah sure.

Alex: Why, you miss me too?

Malachite: OH GO TO HELL

The white haired teen flushed red and set her phone down, taking a deep breath. Alexandrite was prone to catching her off guard, she was so much more... Smooth? Was that the word? She had something about her that both drove her absolutely crazy, and yet... She couldn't get enough.

Soon, there was a small knock at the front door. From the end of the bed, Biggs perked up, her ears raised and her long fluffy tail starting to wag. The large dog hadn't left Malachite's side since the accident. She would whine and cry every time she the tall girl had to leave for school.

Bismuth opened her bedroom door. "You've got a visitor." She said with a coy grin, Malachite sticking her tongue out at her. Behind the rainbow haired girl was the white eyed wonder herself.

"Hey." Said the tan girl, sitting on the end of the bed beside Biggs. She scratched between Biggs' ears, the dog happily wagging her tail and licking her hand. "Well hi puppy." Alex chuckled softly.

"So, what are you doing here?" Malachite asked curiously.

Alexandrite froze up a little, her voice awkward as she seemed to keep her gaze on Biggs. "I just uh, y'know, was walking around, thought I'd drop by."

Malachite smiled, she could see through the teal haired teen's bullshit. Either way though, she was happy to see her. Alex grabbed a small book off the shelf and looked at it. "Do you want me to read to you? I'm guessing you can't because of you wrist."

"Nope." Said the white haired girl before she shook her head rapidly. "I mean I do want you to read it! I was saying that I just... Can't read on my own right now..." She spluttered out awkwardly. "Or um... We could watch something on my laptop?" She squeaked out, her face burning.

The taller girl grinned. "Sure, what do you have in mind? Oh and uh... Would you mind if we had snacks, I'm just asking because it's your bed and I don't know if you'd be okay with that."

Now it was Malachite's turn to smile. She nodded and pointed to the closet, a box rested inside, filled with chocolate bars. "My secret stash is there, grab something for me and yourself." She told the teal haired teen, "And take of your damn glasses, you're indoors now."

Alexandrite nodded, and slipped them off, placing them on the bedside table. The white haired girl loved the look of the older girl's bright, mysterious eyes.

After grabbing a few sweets for the both of them, Alex sat beside her on the bed, book in hand. "I'll just read to you for tonight, okay?" She asked, and the younger of the two smiled.

"Oh, uh... I might pass out." Malachite told her, embarrassed. "I kinda just took my meds, and they're making me sleepy. Is... That okay?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Of course that's okay, I'd rather you get good rest than force yourself to stay up. You deserve sleep Mala."

The white haired teen blushed, and settled next to her companion. Alexandrite was a good reader, and read through at least a few chapters of the book before Malachite got a little too sleepy. Alex chuckled, gently closed the book and stood up, turning off the lamp in the bedroom and making sure the small light in the bedroom was on. "Good night Alex..." Malachite whispered.

She yawned softly as Alexandrite covered her with the blanket. "Nice hanging out with you Mala, get some good rest okay?" She spoke gently, smiling a little as Malachite's eyes closed. "Good night."

This had been a pretty good night.

POV SHIFT- Greg Universe- Rose's House

After taking another sip of his water, Greg knocked carefully on the door of the beautiful house that his friend lived in. Rose definitely lived in a darn good neighbourhood, everything was so clean and bright. She hadn't been kidding when she'd told him she was well off.

The pink haired girl had texted him earlier saying that she was exhausted, and needed help babysitting two of the neighbourhood kids. Lars and Sadie. The two were always dropped off at her house from their families on nights when their parents all had to work. He chuckled as Rose had told him that she often forgot just how fast they grew. She had forgotten that they weren't toddlers anymore, but 4 years old.

He caught a glimpse of a little blonde girl in the window, waving to him with a big smile on her face. Rose opened the door, and the brown haired teenager stepped inside, quickly slipping his shoes off, and onto a shoe rack near the doorway. "Wow, your house is so... Big!" He looked around in awe. Marble tile floors that gave the place an elegant look, a large chandelier in the dining room, a massive kitchen with all sorts of food inside, and a living room filled with soft-looking sofas and chairs. Everything was spotless, pristine, white, with a bright pink bean bag chair that sat in the living room sticking out.

"Isn't it cool?" The little girl, Sadie, asked. She was so adorable! Little pale blonde curls framed her chubby face as she smiled up at him. Beside her, hiding behind Rose was a little boy. Curly, fuzzy red hair covered the top of his head... This must be Lars.

"Sadie, Lars, this is my friend, Greg." Said Rose. "Go on, don't be shy, he's very sweet."

"Oh! So YOU'RE Greg! Rose keeps talking about you!" The tiny girl in front of him giggled as she spoke. Rose blushed a dark pink and fiddled with her hair.

Greg decided to joke with her a little. "Is it about how short I am?" He knelt down to Sadie's height, watching as she began to laugh. "It's not about how much of a nerd I am, is it?"

"You're a nerd?" Lars asked, his eyes wide. "But... You don't look like one."

The brunette snickered. "Yeah, I am. I love all the sci-fi space kinda stuff. That's why I like the write songs about it."

"You play music?" Asked Sadie, her bright eyes gleaming. "When I grow up, I wanna be in a band!"

"Well Sadie, I'd love to see that." Greg gave her a gentle smile and ruffled her hair.

Suddenly, Rose looked down to Lars. "Lars, honey, Greg likes to bake, do you think you could make something with him tonight while I help Sadie with her homework?"

The little boy gave her a tiny, shy smile. "Yeah."

Greg had grinned a little before looking up at Rose. "They're 4 years old and have homework?!"

The pink haired teen chuckled. "Oh, she just has to read a book, that's all." Although I had that reaction too."

"How much homework do you guys have?" Asked Sadie, and Greg shrugged.

"Some nights it's almost none, but other nights... It can be a lot. Tip for you guys, don't take really hard classes." He told them, and they both began to snicker.

The teen himself laughed, and walked into the kitchen with Lars. There was some already made dough in the fridge, all they had to do was add the chocolate chips and make sure to knead it.

Greg searched through the cupboard, looking for the chocolate while Lars grabbed a small cookie sheet out of a cabinet. Soon enough, Rose came in with a proud looking Sadie and grabbed a little bag of chocolate chips off of the shelf. "Looking for these?" She asked with a sly grin. It was a shelf he couldn't reach.

The smaller teen stuck his tongue out at her and walked back over to where a very unsure looking Lars was gazing up at him.

"Can I... Help?" Lars asked shyly, and Greg nodded. He pulled a chair over for the young boy to stand on. He quickly got up onto it, and grabbed the bowl filled with batter. "So, just scoop some in with the spoon?"

"Yep, then we just wait for... About 15 minutes. Pretty simple, right?" He asked, helping the tiny boy scoop cookie dough onto the tray. "Do you like baking, Lars?"

The red haired boy nodded and began to smile. "It's so much fun! I never get to at home! Mum just buys cookies." He explained.

It wasn't long before the cookies were done, Sadie and Lars watching them bake inside the oven with wide, curious eyes. Eventually, the timer on Rose's phone went off, and the Canadian girl pulled them out of the oven. Of course, they had to wait a few minutes, but the smell of fresh cookies now drifted throughout the house. They were happy.

Greg couldn't help but think of how motherly Rose was to the kids, and how much they seemed to adore her. It was moments like this he wanted to protect, forever.

He sat with the kids on the couch, munching on the cookies with them, Rose by his side doing the same, though she held the two children in her lap. It was getting late, the little ones were yawning, almost asleep in Rose's arms until a honk outside the house could be heard.

"Lars, Sadie, get your jackets on!" Rose told them as they bounced around at the door, now filled with some energy from wanting to see their parents. The brown haired boy watched as Rose got them ready, and went outside with them. He stood on the porch and watched.

He waved goodbye to them, watching the small children go to their parents, happy and hugging them, waving to each other... They had families, happy families who loved them and cherished them, taking them home to bring to bed where they would have nice dreams, and still wake up to people who loved them...

It was hard not to be a tiny bit jealous of those kids.

The teens went back inside, Rose going into her bedroom and changing into her pajamas, Greg doing the same in the bathroom. He waited politely outside Rose's room until she opened the door. The taller girl wore a black band t-shirt Greg had given her and some pink shorts. She looked so adorable!

The two of them sat on Rose's bed together, watching some cartoons in the dark pink bedroom, her TV on the wall providing most of the light other than the nightlight in the tiny bathroom at the side of the room. Rose had been yawning more and more, and eventually looked at him with tired eyes.

"Would you mind if I rested on your shoulder? Sorry it's just... I'm really tired." The Italian girl mumbled, and Greg nodded with a soft smile.

"Of course you can, I don't mind. You're my friend, Rose. If you fall asleep, I'll tuck you in and stuff, okay?"

She had the cutest smile he had ever seen in all his life. "Thanks Greg." She gave him a quick hug before settling her head on his shoulder, the scent of cherry blossom shampoo (yes he'd used that shampoo before at Vidalia's, yes it smelled good, yes he liked that kind of smell) lingering on her. The two were happy, just laying in the huge bed watching cartoons together was nice, peaceful even.

Soon enough, the brunette heard soft snoring. He chuckled seeing that Rose had quickly fallen asleep. Geez, what time was it?

Greg himself yawned softly, looking at the clock on the wall he could see that it was already 10:30. Geez, the kids had been gone for an hour now, it felt like their parents had only come to get them a few minutes ago. Oh well, this was a good movie, and he liked this... Thing.

He loved being around Rose. She was a wonderful, loving girl. She had been such a sweetheart with Lars and Sadie, and now she was letting him stay the night in her house? She was so kind!

She had never judged him at all, for anything. Not his cheesy love for space, she had said that it was charming, that she liked space too. She liked to help him with things, like studying or when the two of them had made cookies for the kids. Rose's smile always made him feel good, no... Great.

She was beautiful, inside and out. The brown haired boy hoped one day he could tell her that. Right now, he was more than happy being her friend, yes he wanted to confess affection for her, but it would wait as long as it needed to.

Greg sighed happily, looking at the girl who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He couldn't help smiling a bit, watching her adorably peaceful face as she snored softly. He was in love.


	13. Diamond Chapter 3

**AN: This is 23 years before Chatroom begins, warning for sexual harassment.**

Rosa yawned softly and rested her head in the palm of her hand, she loved the rain, she could hear it pouring down onto the tree-house roof, falling onto the leaves, a soft chilly breeze blew by, making her shiver. She pulled a fluffy pale orange blanket around herself and smiled seeing Azura, Yella and Blanche scramble up the ladder.

"I saved the sandwiches, here Rosa." Said Yella, handing her some food. The sisters often spent their afternoons in the tree-house, drawing, chatting, having lunch, and planning their future. Azura wanted to teach in some form, Blanche wanted to run something (she was rather ambitious for a 17 year old) and Yella wanted a family.

The 13 year old girl happily started eating as the sound of a bicycle bell ringing and someone knocking at the gate. "Yella? You there? It's me, Claude!" A voice called, Rosa watched and snickered as her older sister's face reddened.

"We're in the tree-house!" She called, there were footsteps, a small splash, and someone climbing the ladder. The blonde boy climbed up into the tree-house and gave the girls a smile.

"How are you guys?" He asked, and sat beside Yella. The two had become very good friends over the years, and Rosa was pretty sure her older sister had a slight crush on him.

"We're okay. We're having lunch if you want any?" Azura offered a sandwich to the blonde, but he shook his head. "Alright." The brunette shrugged and pulled a few papers out of a small backpack.

Rosa smiled remembering when they had all drawn on those papers. It had been about a week ago, she had been so happy to tell her sisters all about an amazing dream she'd had. She wanted to run a school with them, their own school where they could make their OWN rules. Nothing would stop them, they were all already going into education for it anyway.

She thought to herself, what the boy who sat beside her in Geography would think. Taito... He was so kind to Rosa. Letting her borrow things she forgot, not teasing her for her height, and giving her the occasional compliment too. Safe to say it, the young girl had formed a small crush on the very tall boy.

She watched Yella talk quietly with Claude. He would occasionally say things to her that made the blonde smile and laugh, and sometimes hit him on the shoulder. Rosa was certainly very happy that Yella had made a friend, but couldn't help but feel a little upset. Blanche had sworn off dating, and found the very idea to be something she didn't like as a whole. Rosa had Taito, her friend, and Yella had Claude. Azura? She had no one.

No one to protect her from awaited them at school.

Azura's body had developed at a quicker pace than most girls. She was shorter than Yella, but the dancer was nothing short of gorgeous. She had picked up dancing over the winter break, and was found to be quite good. The same way Rosa was good at painting, Blanche could play piano, and Yella could sing.

At least... If Yella hadn't thrown that away. Their father had yelled at her for wanting to sing in their school's choir, calling it a 'useless skill', saying she needed to have a real talent if she ever wanted anything good to come her way. And so... Yella had taken up something else.

Acting. She had joined the drama club, and could pull any emotion at the blink of an eye. It was almost terrifying, especially her anger, it felt... Too real.

Rosa herself had seen Yella's anger when a boy at school had liked Azura's body just a little too much. The sisters had been walking down the hall to Azura's locker, chatting about homework when they heard the sound of books crashing to the floor. Looking over, what they had seen was AWFUL. There, a boy the same age as the twins, had Azura pinned up against a locker, his hand reaching up her skirt.

Yella had dropped her backpack, rolled up her sleeves and marched over to him. A vicious snarl was on her face as she punched the boy in the head, before another swift hit to his side and stomach to knock the wind out of him. "LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE!" The blonde roared, "YOU FUCKING PERVERT!"

Rosa gasped seeing her older sister give him hard kicks to the chest, over and over, and the brunette swore she heard a light 'crack' as the boy got up and scrambled outside.

Yella wiped the blood that had come from his nose onto some napkins she kept in her pocket before reaching her hand down to Azura, who had fallen onto the floor and curled up. "Are you alright? Did he touch you?" She asked, helping her twin to stand.

"I'm fine." Her voice was hollow sounding, her blue eyes empty as she stared. Azura had never been a happy girl, since they were children she had always been timid, always somber.

Rosa dropped her own little pink backpack and ran over, hugging Azura tightly. "Yella!" She cried, "I think you broke one of his RIBS!"

The blonde turned to her, her eyes hard as steel. "Good."

Rosa looked down, she knew how angry Yella could get sometimes. She didn't think it was healthy, but...

Nevermind, she didn't have much room to talk anyway, the hole in their bedroom mirror was enough proof that Rosa's own temper needed to be tamed as well, even if it wasn't as bad. Though the brunette couldn't help but wonder just how brutal Yella's rage could get.

She never wanted to find out.

TIME SKIP- 12:18 AM

POV SHIFT- Yella Diamond- The Diamond's Bedroom

Her hands were shaking, this was it! The night she would finally go on her first date. Oh the teenager was a nervous wreck, but a happy one. He had asked her out through a note passed to her during lunch as he walked by. To stay awake tonight, and watch for his bike out her window, and climb down the tree to meet him. Oh, and to wear good pants.

The blonde couldn't stop grinning, even as she had been eating dinner with her sisters a while ago they had kept asking what she was so happy about. She had just shook her head, giggling to herself quietly. Yella had never felt this way about anyone before, Claude made her so happy, telling her jokes and stories that made her laugh and smile, sweet compliments on things she did.

He even let her practice lines from the school play to him, cheering for her and giving her a hug afterwards. He was just as tall as she was, his slightly pointed noise was charming to her, along with the freckles on his cheeks and hazel eyes that always held their mischief.

His father was an awful man, always yelling at him, pressuring him to get a job, do better in school, anything he could hold over the blonde boy and he would do it. It made Claude miserable, many mornings he would come into the school and hug Yella tightly, murmuring that he couldn't wait to get away from his house.

Yella took a deep breath, and slid her window open, slipping out onto the tree branch before making her way down. She crept out of the gate and down to the end of her driveway where Claude waited on his bike.

"Hi beautiful." Her boyfriend murmured, causing the blonde's cheeks to heat up a bit. He gave her a quick hug before scooting up on the bike seat to let her sit. She quickly got onto the slightly large bike seat, wrapping her arms around his waist and keeping her legs close. He had managed to find a bike seat made so the two could ride together.

She settled her head into his neck and closed her eyes as he sped off down the street. The city was so quiet at night, especially in her twin sister's favourite area. The family Barn, which actually somewhat looked like a cabin. They'd spent so many summers playing games in there, and Azura liked to go in there to read. It had started as a Barn, but now had electricity, water and a few rooms built in... So yes, it basically was a cabin that looked like a barn on the outside.

Anyway, an odd smell filled the air, Yella opened her eyes and looked around. Claude had taken the two of them to a garbage dump. "Why here?" Yella asked, staring at the other teen.

"Why not?" Claude asked, smiling at her. "I come here all the time, c'mon!" He chirped, and climbed the fence into the area. "I'll catch you if you fall, don't worry."

She hesitated, what if they were caught, what if her FATHER found out about this? What if... No, she shook her head. She didn't have to care, Claude made her brave.

Yella climbed the fence to join him.

Quietly, the two made their way over to an old car. "Claude?" Yella asked, "Isn't this kind of... Illegal?"

"Who cares? What'll we do? Steal something nobody wants? C'mon Yella, it's okay. I'd never do anything that would get you hurt." He told her, and gave her a soft peck on the cheek. Her face burned, those little kisses made her feel like her heart could explode.

He took a small flashlight out of his pocket, holding it in one hand, and holding HER hand with the other. Yella couldn't stop smiling, she loved him.

The two of them sat on an old truck-bed, staring up at the stars. She rested her head on the blonde boy's shoulder. He turned to look at her before tilting her head up to meet his eyes. "I love you Yella." He murmured, before the blonde girl felt soft lips press against her own.

Her first kiss.


	14. Happy Night

_**Guys, please, at this point I am begging for some comments. This story doesn't seem to get very many, and it has become very discouraging to try and write new chapters only to have very little feedback. If you like the story PLEASE remember to leave a comment.**_  
 _ **This is a really short chapter, and was originally going to be part of the chapter that just came out, however I decided to cut it out and put it here because I liked it too much, and these girls deserved a date on their own. Date has taken a BIG jump, we are now at Tuesday October 18th.**_

Opal sat up on her bed hearing Sardonyx approach. She knew the sounds of her girlfriends' steps on their dorm's floor. The lilac haired teen turned her music off and waved as the blonde came into her room. "Hi Opal." The taller girl said with an adorable smile.

Sardonyx was wearing her favourite shirt, a white button-up blouse with long sleeves, along with a necklace that had three tiny charms. Three little pieces of an opal, a sugilite, and a sardonyx. Opal herself had the same piece of jewelry, as did Sugilite.

"So, did we find a place for our date?" Asked the smaller girl, and Sardonyx nodded. "Ooh! Where?"

The blonde sat on the end of her bed. "Well," She started, "Sugilite said she wanted to try a movie in the park, I know you wanted to visit the coffee shop, and I myself wanted to try getting into the school's field, so... We wanted to know if you wanted to do all three tonight!" Sardonyx chirped. At that moment, Sugilite came into her room too.

"Alright, I'm all ready." She muttered, looking away somewhat shyly. Sugilite was never one to be shy, but she did get a bit flustered whenever she wore a new outfit. Why? Because the other two would squeal and compliment her, spoiling the tallest teen with kisses too.

She wore a black leather jacket with a dark purple shirt underneath that cut low to show off her cleavage a bit, and ripped black jeans. Opal got up out of her bed and gave her tallest girlfriend a hug. "You look so cool, Sugi." She said with a happy grin, feeling the older girl's strong arms wrap around her. Sugilite smelled like mint, the smell of the older girl's shampoo was so nice, comforting too.

Just like the fact that Sardonyx smelled like jasmine, and Opal herself smelled like vanilla. It was great when they all cuddled after a shower, all the warm scents floating around that made them all happy and sleepy.

"Hang on." Opal told them. "I'll get changed, then we can go out." She watched the two of them walk out before rummaging through her closet. One pair of white leggings and a pastel purple flannel later, she rejoined her girlfriends in the dorm's living room. "So what do you think? Warm enough?" She asked, and blushed hearing Sugilite whistle.

"Definitely hot enough." Sardonyx commented before handing the younger teen her jacket. "But yeah you should probably wear this, I don't want you sick."

She gave the older girl a small peck on the cheek and slipped it on, walking out of their dorm and down the stairs into the cool autumn night. She gazed up at the half moon, taking a deep breath of the fresh air as Sugilite tucked the key card back into her pocket. It was 7:30, and they had to be back by 10:00 to get back into the dorm building before the locks shut for the night. There was a bit of crime in the city, something about a gang of criminals, Opal shivered at the thought. No children had ever been hurt, but it was better to be safe than dead.

POV SHIFT- Sardonyx Montrer

"So, think we'll see Mister Smiley?" She asked Sugilite as the three girls walked down the street, Sardonyx holding their hands. "I heard he works the night shift at the Big Donut."

"Yeah, probably. Poor guy, having to work midnights sometimes, I know I couldn't without falling asleep."

Opal started to giggle. "Yeah but Sugi you LOVE sleep." She said with a teasing smile, the older girl stuck her tongue out at her. "You're not denying it!" The Korean girl chirped. "I'm just as bad I guess, though if I had some coffee I'd be good to go."

"Yes, we know, you addict." Sardonyx teased, and laughed feeling Opal squeeze her hand, "Oh darling you never fail to amuse me!"

The three entered the coffee and donut shop, Sugilite and Sardonyx ordering while Opal sat at a booth in the corner. Upon walking over to her though, the blonde spotted a familiar face. "Hi Lapis!" She called, and the blue haired teen gave a small wave to them from her spot, drinking her tea and charging her phone.

There were a few other people in the shop, everyone came here for the beautiful ocean view, even if the beach near it was off limits for some reason. Maybe it was a place for turtles to breed or something. Probably. Sardonyx liked turtles.

Opal handed her a warm cup of tea. Sweet, apple cinnamon tea, just the way the blonde liked it. She sat in between her girlfriends, the three happily munching on donuts and watching the last of the sunset. Sardonyx had finished her drink first, as per usual, and wrapped her arms around the both of them. She wanted this moment to last forever...

"Hey, guys?" Asked Sugilite. "Mind if I take a pic of us all? I love being with you, and this date is awesome, so I thought it'd be nice to keep a memory of it." Sardonyx giggled, Sugilite was so cute sometimes. She nodded, blushing as the tall teen pulled out her phone and held it up. Smiling with glee as she heard the 'click' of Sugilite's phone taking the picture, she reached up and gave the Hispanic girl a kiss on the cheek.

Ten minutes later, and they were off again, heading down over to the school. Sardonyx pulled out her phone and used it as a flashlight, navigating her way around and over the fence.

"So why'd you wanna come here Sards?" Opal spoke up after she too had jumped over the fence. Something cool?

The blonde girl nodded. "Indeed. I found something hidden here." She led them through the dark, holding tightly onto Sugilite's hand, Opal holding onto the tall girl's hand as well.

She walked over to the back of the field, to the school's tennis court that was set to open up in the spring, and slipped through the gate. "Wait here." She murmured as she looked around. No one had been in here yet, students weren't really allowed in since the floor of it was still being set in, but Sardonyx was a curious teen. One day, while walking through and enjoying the breeze during lunch, she had seen something glint within it.

Crouching low, she searched through the gravel. There, in the corner, was a small necklace almost completely covered. The British teenager scooped it up and brushed it off. A simple chain necklace with a pink diamond charm, the diamond being a weird shape that was upside down... Upon further inspection, Sardonyx realized that there was something was engraved on the back of it.

'To Rosa, I Love You'.

Rosa? Like the vice principal? She was confused, why was this here, nearly forgotten in the dirt? She walked back over to the others, showing them her find.

"Woah, what the hell?" Sugilite muttered when she looked at the engraving. "I mean that's gotta belong to her, but... Why is it here?"

"And why hasn't she come back for it?" Opal added in. Sardonyx nodded slowly and put the necklace carefully into her bag.

"I think we've got a mystery here girls." She told them. "And I think we just found a piece of it."

TIME SKIP- 9:00pm  
POV SHIFT- Sugilite Exitium

Cheesy hetero rom-coms were Sugilite's favourite movies to tease. So laughably predictable and horrible with relationships, it was easy to tease them for all the old cliches.

The park near the dorms showed a movie every weekday night, so what better way to spend a Tuesday night then to playfully tease something and laugh with her beautiful, wonderful lovers. She was so happy to be with them, they had given her hope for a future, and she would always be grateful for their love.

She had been holding the two of them in her lap now for an hour and a half, the movie would be over in a little while, though the memory of Sardonyx's find at the schoolyard still rang in her mind as if it had been a few seconds ago.

The Hispanic girl looked down at them, Opal was yawning and Sardonyx's eyes had a sleepy look in them. How did these adorable and pretty girls fall for her? She'd never know, but she was more than happy they did.

Sugilite held her girlfriends close. This night hadn't exactly gone quite as they'd thought it would, but to the purple haired girl it had gone even BETTER. She gave the smaller girls each a kiss on their foreheads, smiling when they kissed her back on her cheeks.

"I wanna try it." Opal murmured softly, prompting Sugilite to raise an eyebrow.

"Try what, Bean?" She asked, snickering when Opal blushed at the nickname.

"The three of us kissing each other at the same time. We've never really tried before, I know I'd remember giving my two favourite girls a kiss at the same time." She told them. There was a sweet, slightly pouty look on her face as she gazed up at them. "Can we try, please?"

The three of them all exchanged looks before Sardonyx spoke up. "Well I think that would be lovely." Said the British girl replied. Sugilite quickly helped them into a better position, having one girl for each of her legs as she adjusted herself on the bench.

The three of them all leaned in at once, and though it felt awkward at first, to Sugilite it was one of the best feelings in the world, both of their sweet scents around her, holding them both, and having them hold her in return, and feeling the two sets of soft lips at her own.

This was heaven.


	15. Pearl and The Blues

_**AN: The current date of the chapter is Wednesday, October 19th.**_

Icey_U: everyone morning!

purple_PUMA: WHY

keepittogether: ha, jokes on you I haven't slept yet

What-can-I-do4u: Sapphire whyyyy

Icey_U: Ruby said it would be funny.

Mr-Universe: WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE MESSAGE EACH OTHER AT NORMAL HOURS IT'S 1 IN THE MORNING

Made_of_LOVE: Sapphire, you are my favourite cousin, and I love you, but

Made_of_LOVE: what the fuck

HappyCat: Aw Sapph I just got Aqua to sleep

Icy_U: I figured out the nightmare that is changing my name

HappyCat: How'd you do that?

Icy_U: I made a request to Peridot, guess she changed the code. She told me it would take a few days for the change to happen, because it would send me an email and all that.

Icy_U: Worth it.

HappyCat: Okay, I didn't wanna say anything, but

HappyCat: Where IS Peridot? She hasn't been at school in days.

keepittogether: Oh, yeah I kind of assumed she's sick?

purple_PUMA: nah, she'd still message us if she was sick, wouldn't she?

Icy_U: well, Ruby is definitely sick. Poor thing has a little cold. Maybe Peridot is sick and not allowed to use electronics?

purple_PUMA: oh yeah I forgot some people do that bullshit

Made_of_LOVE: Do what?

purple_PUMA: 'if you're feeling well enough to go on your phone you're obviously okay to go to school'

Icy_U: Yes, because using your fingers for something that hardly requires much mental process is obviously the same as going to school.

purple_PUMA: adults are so stupid

keepittogether: I don't wanna grow up

Icy_U: ...

Icy_U: me neither.

Mr-Universe: Yeah, I don't want to either.

purple_PUMA: i'm legit fuckin scared of what's coming

purple_PUMA: I don't even know if I can manage to get into any college, I have no plan

Icy_U: neither do I

Mr-Universe: I didn't think I was gonna make it this far

HappyCat: me neither

purple_PUMA: me too

Icy_U: same here.

Made_of_LOVE: I don't think any of us did. I kind of have a plan but

Made_of_LOVE: I don't want to live alone. The thought of being alone is scary.

La_Vie_En_Rose: Well, we'll all have each other in the future, I'm sure of it.

Made_of_LOVE: thanks Rose.

La_Vie_En_Rose: oh, and Sapphire?

Icy_U: Yeah?

La_Vie_En_Rose: your everyone privileges have been revoked.

La_Vie_En_Rose: OH FUCK

Icy_U: ha

Big_Buff_Cheeto_Puff: god DAMMIT ROSE QUARTZ

La_Vie_En_Rose: I'll just... See myself out into the shame corner.

La_Vie_En_Rose: goodnight everyone.

TIME SKIP- 6:45

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli

Lapis stood in front of her bathroom mirror, happy to have electricity back in her house, as she groomed herself. She had chosen her blue and violet flannel to keep warm against the rain. Her house was freezing cold from the weather outside.

The blue haired girl frowned at her reflection. Her hair did look weird, didn't it? She messed around with her bangs, pushing them back and away from her face at first only to cringe. She didn't want her face on display, she didn't like it. She hated her soft, childishly round cheeks, her freckles, her dull eyes with those dark circles under them from long nights of waking up from nightmares...

Slowly, Lapis pushed her bangs over to one side of her face, covering one of her eyes, just like Amethyst. She narrowed her eyes as she gazed into the mirror. She looked okay, but the Hawaiian just hoped her friends would like it. Lapis didn't want them to think she was weird.

Peridot had gone silent over the weekend, she had left for something on Saturday but had never returned. Lapis had kept an eye on the chatroom whenever she could, but no messages from the blonde had popped up. Lapis would understand if the blonde had been grounded, or was busy, but... She hadn't shown up to school at all through the week so far. Not on Monday or Tuesday.

The Hawaiian didn't like being apart from her crush, it burned her inside not knowing where she was, not being able to quell the tiny blonde's fears. Lapis loved her, she was in love with the charming Greek teen. Everything about her made the blue haired girl want to do stupid things like draw her with little hearts all around her, or write dumb little love notes that would have to be burned later, or listen to shitty sad love songs on her phone and cry because she knew deep down Peridot would never feel the same way.

She probably barely gave Lapis a second thought.

The blue haired girl ripped up another love note and burned the pieces with her lighter until they were unrecognizable. She tossed them out the window into the rain after they had been turned black.

Lapis grabbed her backpack, and was about to shove her wallet inside until she stopped. She opened the wallet up and looked at the picture inside. It had been taken when she was 10 years old. She was riding on the shoulders of her dad, her papa feeding her ice cream. They had been so happy once. They had been a family once.

Now it was all gone, and it was all her fault.

Lapis pressed her lips to the glossy plastic that protected the old photo before holding it close to her chest as if to keep it safe. Gently placing it inside her backpack, she walked out into the rain.

When she reached the school, she was thankful for the forested areas around for at least somewhat protecting her from the rain.

TIME SKIP- 11:30am

POV SHIFT- Pearl Oiseau

Something was wrong, very wrong. Everyone was on edge for some reason, the classroom was silent as a tomb, other than the sound of rain pouring down around them. The weather was awful, it was freezing cold and rain had been hammering down on them since 4 in the morning. It had been enough to wake Pearl up after her measly 3 hours of sleep, and the peach haired teen had wandered into Amethyst's mess of a room to crawl into her bed and snuggle up with her.

Pearl had no idea what had driven her to do that, other than the need for some much-needed comfort that only the lilac haired girl could provide. She hated being woken up like that, and rain made her nervous for some reason. She much preferred sunny weather, perfect to sit outside and read a book, or go out to the park, or... Anything. Pearl was definitely an outdoors loving girl.

But for now the skies were grey.

The teacher had given the class a book to read, something about some boy who joins with a circus, a train, the ringleader acting like a dick, an elephant... Pearl wasn't listening.

She was tired, miserable, and her body ached. She'd had dance class last night, and had left her with aching legs from all the things she had done. Not to mention... No, she didn't want to think about that. All Pearl wanted was to go back to her dorm and sleep.

Lapis seemed to be restless too, the blue haired girl was getting snappy at people and was generally more aggressive. She hadn't shown up at school yesterday, something about her family needing her for something.

Peridot still wasn't at school, Pearl was getting awfully concerned over the tiny girl, but she pushed it aside. The peach haired girl certainly had her theories about the blonde, but those would have to wait.

A flash from outside made some of the teens jump, followed by a low rumble. Pearl shivered, she was dreading having to work during this weather. If the power went out during her shift she was screwed.

"Psst, hey." Lapis muttered. "I can't see the clock, how long till this is over?" She asked, and Pearl noticed something rather... Off, about her friend (were they friends?). Her bangs were covering up one of her eyes. It was odd, not like her. But Pearl would keep her mouth shut about it. It wasn't nice to say such things.

She looked up at the clock. "It's 11:43." She told the shorter teen. The clock in the room was on the wall in front of them, and the thing was eye level. Pearl could see it perfectly from her desk, and Lapis was right beside her... "How can you not see the clock? It's almost right in front of us."

Lapis glared at her. "I just can't okay?" She growled.

The French teen wasn't done yet though, she smirked. "Lapis, can you... Not tell time?"

Bad idea. Lapis had all but snarled at her. "Yes, I can, dick-nose. I just can't fucking see it from here." She snapped, and Pearl went back to looking over her homework for spelling errors. She decided it would be best to just leave the blue haired teenager alone.

She quickly checked her phone, checking for messages from Amethyst. She and the purple haired girl had been texting each other almost non-stop all day. Amethyst had managed to get a few hours of sleep last night since Rose had made her go to bed early. Since the younger teen's birthday was coming soon, Pearl wanted to get her a nice gift. Amethyst insisted she didn't need anything, but the peach haired girl refused to listen.

So, there were things she had as options now as gifts for Amethyst's birthday. She could buy her a new video game, definitely some new clothes, or maybe something small and cool? She frowned thinking of her wallet, she wouldn't have very much left after buying things to make everyone's favourite food, along with making a large strawberry pie for Amethyst.

She hoped she would be giving what had to be one of her closest friends a good birthday. Amethyst could never afford things like big birthday parties, it always had to be small ones, like little sleepovers with Pearl, Garnet, and Rose. Sometimes Bismuth too if she wasn't too busy with practising hockey.

Things had gotten quite quiet around in their group. Ruby hadn't been around thanks to her cold, and though Pearl had messaged her plenty of times, still no answer from Peridot.

She couldn't help but wonder how the tiny girl was doing.

POV SHIFT- Peridot Diamond

Peridot shivered, curling up on her mattress with Percy in her arms. The Basement was cold, she had no clue how long she'd been down here. The blonde hoped her adoptive mother would let her out soon, she had to get to school on Monday... Was it even still the weekend though? She had no clue.

Her stomach ached from being so empty, tears slipping down her cheeks from eyes shut tight. She hated being down here so much, in the dark. She scratched between Percy's ears and held him close to her chest. He purred loudly, curling up on top of her, still so small. The Greek teenager was at least happy that Percy was still a kitten, if he laid o her chest he wouldn't be putting much weight on her ribs. She knew she was a thin kid, that it wasn't healthy, but she couldn't do much. Sweets were banned and Peridot couldn't eat too much or she'd get sick.

Her clothes clung to her tiny body, the thin material easily penetrated by the cold air of the house. "Please..." She whispered, only mouthing the words. "I just want to see my friends again..."

POV SHIFT- Sapphire Hibernis

"Saaaaph!" Ruby called to her, when the blue haired teen turned to her girlfriend she began to blush seeing Ruby grin at her, making a heart shape with her hands. "I love you."

Sapphire giggled and blew her beautiful lover a kiss as she stirred the lemonade she had on the counter. Sure it was out of a packet, but it tasted good. "You drink this, take your medicine, and get some rest. Okay?"

"I will. I'm gonna miss you. Do good on your test!" Ruby chirped, smiling happily as Sapphire kissed her on the forehead. The Indian girl had a test in her art class, something she couldn't skip, even if she wanted to in order to take care of Ruby. Ruby was almost better though, she was a strong girl.

Sapphire waved goodbye, and walked out. Heading down the stairs until she made her way into the school, walking alongside Pearl. The peach haired girl looked distressed, there were dark circles underneath her eyes and she was staring at her phone as she walked. "Pearl?"

The taller teenager jumped a little, and stared at Sapphire. "Oh, I'm sorry Sapphire, I didn't even notice you there." She responded. "Do you need something?"

She had been about to shake her head, when she realized that this could be the opportunity needed in order to speak with the French girl. "Can I talk to you, in the bathroom?" Sapphire asked, and Pearl nodded, following along behind the short girl into the empty bathroom.

"Okay, what's up?" Asked Pearl once they had entered the bathroom, the blue haired girl sitting up on the counter.

Sapphire took a deep breath. "What's wrong?" She asked, "And don't say 'it's nothing', Pearl. You haven't been sleeping, your hair's a mess, and your watching you phone as you're walking in the hall, which you scold me for all the time. What's going on?"

Pearl's eyes widened, before she let out a weary chuckle. "Nothing gets past you, does it? It's not even one problem, it's two. Okay, maybe three."

The tiny girl held out her hands, taking Pearl's and holding them tight. "Pearl. We've known each other almost all our lives, you can tell me anything."

The tall girl bit her lip before she looked down. "My mom texted me last night. She... She wants me to try living with her again. Sapphire, I can't do it."

Oh.

Emily Oiseau, Pearl's mother. Sapphire remembered her quite well. She was tall and skinny with fiery red hair and freckles all over her face. Emily had been a kind and caring woman, and had been trapped in an abusive relationship. Her partner had hurt her badly, and she had moved from France to America to escape them, though she gave birth to Pearl a little while later. She worked hard, and was always tired, always stressed out. One day at Pearl's house, Sapphire had found bottle of foul smelling liquid along with little white pills.

Sapphire remembered the day when people in suits had come up to them in school, taking the peach haired girl away. She remembered Pearl's agonized scream out in the hallway, not seeing her for days, and then she showed up again, saying that her mother was no longer allowed to take care of her, and that she would be living with new parents. Pearl had come to her house some nights, scared of being in a new house with strange people she didn't know, never hearing from her mother despite trying so hard to speak with her in any way possible.

The blue hared girl was glad that Pearl had Amethyst to help her through things, they needed each other.

"So, what should I tell her?" Pearl asked, and Sapphire gave her a gentle smile.

"The truth, tell her you're living in a dorm, with us. That you want to get your money's worth, and be able to more easily study. I mean, that's why you don't go to your home right now, isn't it?"

The pale teen gave a little chuckle. "Yes, it is. I guess you're right. But, that's not just it. You see... I... I'm so jealous of Greg. He and Rose get along in a way I just can't seem to have. He GETS her a lot more than I do."

Nodding, the tiny teen gave her friend's hands another squeeze. "And? I get the feeling that's not just it, is it? You're jealous of Greg because he and Rose already have a strong bond. That's fair. But, what sort of bond have you wished for yourself to have with Rose?"

Pearl shook her head. "I could answer that question a while ago. Now I'm not so sure. I used to say it all the time that I adored Rose, but... Lately I just don't think it's true. I mean don't get me wrong she's still one of my closest friends in the world, but... I feel like I'm closer with..."

Sapphire tilted her head, gesturing to Pearl to continue. "With..."

"She just makes me so happy, Sapph. Everyday I'm with her I feel so much more alive, like I can do anything. Sure we have our little fights, but it's just us playing around. I want to help her and protect her from the world, I want to see her smile. Lately whenever I'm around her my heart starts to pound and I just want to hold onto her, I want to be... Forever, with her." Pearl explained, starting to have a blissful smile spread across her face, along with a deep, pink blush.

"And, who is 'she'?" Asked Sapphire, already knowing the answer.

"Amethyst. I'm head over heels for Amethyst."


End file.
